The Three Alliances and the Lost Soul
by Mark Ol' Henry
Summary: The Soul Embrace has slipped from Siegfried's hands. Now new alliances are forming in order to attain it. Siegfried believes it's his duty alone to fix his mistake, but others think otherwise. Small editing has been made. More info in Part 27.
1. Prologue

!Soul Calibur 3 and all other related names, places, etc., are property of Namco!

**Prologue**

The sound of clashing swords echoing inside Ostrheinsburg Chapel came to a sudden stop. The pouring rain drenched the fighters and the thunder reverberated off the broken walls of the old chapel.

The Azure Knight stood tall, his cursed blade raised high above his head, "I like your strong spirit…your soul will feed my sword well."

The dark knight's victim tried to crawl away, but he had nowhere to go. His body was damaged beyond repair. Instead, he turned to face his enemy and smiled defiantly, "The Azure Knight is about to claim another victim…unfortunate it is me."

The knight smirked behind his helm, "Don't fret. Your soul will burn inside my sword for eternity."

The proud Frenchman stared straight into the knight's red eyes, "It must truly be an honor to have fought me, true? I want you to savor your victory, because no matter how strong you become, you will always be nothing but a hack, a street dog!"

The comment infuriated the dark knight. He sent his sword crashing down, straight at the man's head.

_Enough!_

The Azure Knight stopped. His eyes widened in surprise. He yelled in anger, "What! You again! Stop resisting and move this worthless body of yours and finish him!"

_Silence! I will obey you no longer! I will atone for what I have done…_

The Knight became silent, but inside his head a battle between the spirit of the body's rightful owner and the spirit of the demonic sword began.

_The depth of human greed astounds me. You seek forgiveness? After all you have done?_

_No! But one must reflect on one's sins and move onward._

…_Even if that path leads to darkness? Death awaits all in the end, whether you are free of sin or not._

_I just wish to move on…_

_Can you not hear them--The wails of the souls that burn inside me? It was your hand that sent them to me! Listen!_

The knight's body shivered.

_You don't really believe that you can forget them so easily, can you?_

_I am eternally sorry for what I have done…but listen to me!_

_Listen to this fool. He is ready to die. He knows that death is better than what he is feeling now. Your father, too, knew the simplicity of death, its allure._

_Yes…if I could, I would return to that time…_

_Do not dwell in the past! Look before you, in the present! He has given up. He no longer has any use for his soul. We will put it to use. He has slipped into hopelessness already!_

_No! That's an illusion! I can see it…I can see the proud way he faces his end! You have lied to me for too long now! It is time I listen to my soul, not yours!_

The calm blue eyes of the young man seduced by Soul Edge replaced the burning red eyes of the evil knight. He looked upon the injured Frenchman, who had begun to rise onto his feet. In one last surge of strength, he pierced the blade's demonic eye with his rapier. Satisfied, he smirked and collapsed to the floor in a heap.

The innocent man was still connected to the monster known as Nightmare, and as Soul Edge was pierced he howled in pain. But this was what he wanted. He fell to his knees and placed Soul Edge on the floor in front of him. He began to brutally beat the sword with his fists, hoping to pummel it into dust.

_What are you doing!_

Despite the spirit of the sword continually biting at his mind, the young man continued to strike the sword. With a will of iron, he yelled in defiance at the spirit still in his mind and finally drove it out. "This is my body! My mind!" As he shouted these words, his body began to change. The thick, tan hide that once covered his body became the skin of a human's. His once blood red hair was now blonde once again. What pleased him most, however, was his right arm. It was slowly changing back to normal. No longer would he have to carry that grotesque arm with him. Finally free, he removed his helm and tossed it aside in disgust. He took a long breath of fresh air for the first time in years.

Soul Edge looked at him wild-eyed. The now restored Siegfried returned the look, "I am finally free." As if on cue, a bright, radiating light shined through the storm clouds. It seemed to chase away the storm. From the light a sword materialized in front of him. Siegfried looked upon the sword. He felt a reverence towards it. He could feel a holy aura surrounding the blade.

Driven by some unseen force, Siegfried took the sword in hand and drove it into the core of Soul Edge. The demonic sword let out an inhuman shriek. Siegfried twisted the blade, and as he did cracks formed on the Soul Edge. Its flesh branched out and began to intertwine with the holy sword. As if to resist Soul Edge, the holy sword's crystal emanated a blinding light. The light filled the old chapel. The light flowed out of the chapel's stained glass windows and lit up the thick forest surrounding the chapel.

Siegfried looked on at the light, mesmerized by its glow. Slowly, he felt an overwhelming sense take over him, and he fell into a deep sleep…


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Aww, man! What have I gotten myself into?" The young, short haired woman fell straight down on her behind. She sat atop a hill, rubbing the temples of her head and closing her eyes in deep thought, "I can't believe I lost the city! I've been there before…aww! Dammit! I forgot where it was!" She began to pound on her head, trying to remember, _Stupid Cassandra. Think!_ "That's it! I'll just go find it again! It can't be that far away from here. I can still remember this hill." She got back up and headed off down the hill, wandering aimlessly in hopes of finding any town at all.

After wandering for a day or so, Cassandra stumbled across a small town by the ocean, "This isn't it…the people here are actually…sane."

XOOOOOX

Cassandra had come across a town whose people were acting quite strangely about a month ago. She noticed that the townsfolk were quite unproductive. They spent their days groveling before a traveling troubadour who carried around a small sack on his neck that seemed to be the center of the townsfolk's attention.

Cassandra had pent a few days there, trying to interact with the edgy townsfolk, but she had become quite apprehensive herself after meeting several of them. She had begun to notice that a few of them were giving her odd looks throughout the day, as if she had something they wanted. On top of that, her sword and shield were damaged from recent battles and were now crumbling, leaving her nearly defenseless. One night, she made the wise decision to slip away from the town.

She went back home to Athens, where she hoped that her brother-in-law, Rothion, would reforge her weapons. There she discovered that her older sister, Sophitia, had left home once again.

She set back off in hopes of both destroying Soul Edge and finding her beloved sister.

XOOOOOX

Now here she was, with a brand new sword and a repaired shield, in a completely new town. _Darn…how does my sister do this? _She took a big breath and walked into town, _Well, I'll have to start somewhere. If Sis could do this, then so can I._

The sun had set just as she found an inn. By now she was exhausted. She pulled out her money and counted how much money she had. She bit her lip, "I hope that's enough for a room."

The atmosphere inside the inn was more like a bar's than that of a place for sleeping and rest. The smell of cigar smoke and sound of raucous laughter filled the air. Cassandra approached the front counter and waited for someone to come and see to her. A man with a goatee and beady eyes walked up to the counter, "Can I help you, little missy?"

"Yeah, do you have any rooms open? I would like to spend the night."

The man looked her over and smiled, "We do."

Cassandra pulled out her purse and poured out the small amount of coins she had onto the counter, "Will this be enough for a room?"

The man gave a wry look, giving away the answer immediately, "Ooh…sorry, but that really isn't enough for a room…"

Cassandra sighed and looked down at her coins, looking disappointedly at the dull reflection of them, "That's too bad."

"…but I could give you a free room," he began to rub his chin, "But it doesn't have a lock you see…" he smiled mischievously, "I mean…I am giving you this room for free, you know."

"Ugh!" Cassandra took back her coins and quickly stomped out of the inn, all the while getting hoots and hollers from the drunken patrons. She could hear the innkeeper shouting out an obscene joke. _Why are men pigs?_

Evening had set in and yet the streets were still bustling. The stars were beginning to come out. The weak twinkling of the smaller ones seemed to really come through. Those were the stars that caught Cassandra's attention. After gazing blissfully at the stars, she snapped back to reality and remembered that she still needed a place to sleep. Sighing, she began to drop her coins back into her little bag one by one. Just as she finished dropping in the last coin, Cassandra felt a swift breeze past by her, nearly knocking her over, "What? Hey!" Her purse was missing. She turned to see a small hooded figure running off down the street, "Dammit! What a town!"

She broke off in hot pursuit of the thief down the marketplace. _This jerk's fast! _The thief took advantage of the marketplace during the chase. As he ran he pocketed several pieces of fruit and bread. He looked back to only to see that the girl was still on his tail, _Goddamn, she's persistent! Shoot! She looks angry…_

The merchants looked on in awe at the chase as the two sped down the street. "Hey! Kid! I'm going to give you such a beating when I get you!"

"Yeah, right! Try and catch me, you dumb blonde!"

This only made Cassandra run even faster, homicidal thoughts periodically flashing through her head.

_What the? _The little thief began to worry as the angry girl took hold of her sword and shield. _Let's see if this girl is agile like a cat, or just fast and clumsy like a bull._

In front of her, Cassandra saw the kid tip over a stand of fruit. Apples, oranges and even melons rolled along the ground. Cassandra smiled, "_Wo_w Ha ha! _Nice job!" _

Her sarcastic tone rang in the boy's ears, _Man, what a bitch! _The boy began to think that she would catch him, but all thinking temporarily stopped when he ran into a large object. He bounced off of the object and landed hard on his back. After regaining his bearings, he rubbed his nose. Blood. "What the hell! What idiot would build a goddamn wall out of goddamn metal!My face hurts…"

"A lot more than your face will be hurting now!" Cassandra stood above him, popping her knuckles, sword and shield put away. "Now, where to start?" An evil smile formed on her lips as she closed in on the boy, who was beginning to tear up out of fright of what she was going to do to him. He began to silently pray for his safety, _Oh please my Lord, may you protect me from this wicked harpy that stands before me...protect me from her wrath! _When she didn't strike him down, the boy looked up and saw that a hand wearing a gauntlet holding onto the girl's shoulder. He hadn't run into a wall, he had run into a knight! The boy looked to the sky, _Thank you, God!_

Cassandra looked up at the one who was holding her back from exacting retribution. She saw that it was a cloaked man wearing a suit of armor. He, too, looked like a thief, but his face was hooded, so she couldn't see him. "What? Are you this kid's buddy or something? Let go!" She swiped away his hand and began to take shots at his head. However, the cloaked man dodged every punch thrown by the feisty girl. One punch did manage to graze his cheek, pushing back his hood, revealing his face. Cassandra looked as long blond hair flowed out from behind the hood and piercing blue eyes looked her straight in the eye. She was hypnotized,_ Oh wow…_

She settled down and stared admiringly at him. Her legs began to shake just slightly. As she stood there daydreaming, a mocking laughter woke her from her fantasy. She blushed and looked to the ground, ashamed she could think of such things.

"See ya later, you chubby blonde!"

Cassandra immediately whipped around, face red with both anger and embarrassment, "You'll get what's coming to you, you pest!" The boy had already disappeared behind an alley before he even heard her, her money going with him.

"A bit harsh, aren't we?" The calm smooth voice of the cloaked stranger caught Cassandra's attention. She turned around to see that he was smiling, a half-smile, actually. Cassandra folded her arms and turned her head away in disgust, "Hmph! He's a little pickpocket. His parents should've raised him better…but then again…"

"He may not have a family," the stranger finished the sentence.

Cassandra breathed out a long, frustrated breath, "Either way, he still got away with my money, and now I have nowhere to sleep."

The man began to pull out a sack of coins tucked under his belt, "Here, you can have my money." He held out the sack to her. She stared blankly at the sack, apparently confused at the man's generosity, _Well, he does look like a good guy. A handsome guy like him must be very generous. _"Take it. I don't have any use for it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

After Cassandra took the sack of coins, the man began to walk off. "Wait! Would you tell me your name? Please?" The man looked back at her, a kind look in his deep blue eyes. He only smiled and pulled his hood back over his head, leaving the girl swooning behind him.

After the handsome man had disappeared from sight, Cassandra began to ask herself some questions about him, _He was so willing to part with his money. Why? Does he come across money often? He had a scar…and armor… like a knight…do knights get paid a lot?_ She closed her eyes and envisioned him again, relishing every detail she could bring back up. But once again a voice brought her back to reality, "Cassandra? Cassandra, is that really you?" Cassandra opened her eyes and looked in front of her. She could make out the figure of a woman, and from what she could see she wore a dress similar to her own. _Wait a minute…_"Sis? Is that you?"

The other woman ran to Cassandra, eyes tearing. "Cassandra!" She wrapped her arms around her, squeezing the breath out of the younger sister.

"H…hey, Sophitia…" Cassandra nervously answered.

Sophitia looked at Cassandra with hard eyes, no longer crying but more stern and upset, "Cassandra, I heard that there was a huge commotion around the marketplace. I didn't expect it to be you." There was an awkward silence. "Cassandra…I have been looking all over for you…It's time for you to go back home."

Cassandra broke free of her older sister's vice grip and looked her straight in the eye, her own eyes filled with determination, "No."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It had been a month since that fateful day at Ostrheinsburg Chapel. Siegfried didn't know how long he was unconscious, but he guessed it was only a few days or so. When he had awoken, he found himself lying on the floor beside an odd sword in an oddly silent chapel. The Frenchman had disappeared, to where, Siegfried did not know. Upon awakening, he took a look at his dark armor. He removed it and threw it against the wall of the chapel. He returned his attention to the odd sword. Soul Edge seemed to be paralyzed, as if it was in a comatose state. "It's asleep. Finally, it is dormant." Fused with the Soul Edge was Soul Calibur, whose radiant glow had begun to fade. No doubt its energy was being drained. Siegfried stared at the two blades and began to ponder on what to do next, _No…this isn't enough. I must neutralize Soul Edge forever. Soul Calibur will only last so long…it will weaken sometime…_With that thought, Siegfried took up the newly created sword, the Soul Embrace and set off far, far away from the chapel.

During that month, Siegfried had made a horrible mistake. He traveled with the Soul Embrace, hoping to finally seal away the demonic sword. But one night, as he slept, the blade was taken from him. His mind raced. Who could've stolen it? Why did they steal it? Why didn't he notice anything? Even in his sleep Siegfried was very alert.

He spent the entire day contemplating. It was then that he gained his new resolve. He knew what his purpose was now. He made a vow to himself that it would be his responsibility to find the Soul Embrace. He promised to remove all traces of Soul Edge and its taint from the world. And on top of that, he convinced himself that he would have to take the life of the one who took the Soul Embrace. He felt it was his duty.

It really had been a miserable month. Strangers from all around had come to confront him, all looking to avenge a loved one's death. What surprised Siegfried was that they all seemed to know about his past. It shocked him to see how many people seemed to know. It made him feel guilty every time he had to defeat one in battle. He always managed to avoid their vitals in every battle, leaving them to seethe in anger as they struggled to stay conscious.

XOOOOOX

Siegfried slowly strolled down the road, eyes situated straight ahead, towards the forest that the road passed through. Occasionally, his concentration would be broken when he thought back to the young woman he had just met the day before. Her big round eyes and short golden hair and cute smile brought a small smile to his lips. But when he remembered the sword and shield she carried, his smile faded, _A girl like her shouldn't be involved in fighting…_

Walking down the dirt road made Siegfried feel uncomfortable. He felt too exposed. He decided to go off the path and meandered deep into the woods.

He stopped at the side of a small lake that was fed by a stream. Fish took a liking to the stream and the lake as well. He washed himself in the lake, and then after that he pulled back on his pants and proceeded to snatch up fish in the stream. Catching fish with his bare hands was harder than he thought. The sunlight shined off the fishes' scales, and Siegfried would always try to catch the brightest shining one that passed by--a shinier fish meant a bigger fish! After several failed attempts, Siegfried became impatient. Acting upon his impulses--something he had not done since he was a child--he targeted out the largest fish he could find in the crystal clear water and pounced on it like a large cat. Water splashed and grunts of frustration filled the air as he struggled to get a solid grip of the fish. "Ha! Got you!" Siegfried held the fish above his head with both hands as he sat in the stream. The fish flailed, sprinkling water onto Siegfried's face. He looked at the fish's outline against the sun as he began to think back to his childhood. He would always head off into the woods as a boy and play in the streams and fool around, shirking off his chores. For a moment he forgot all his troubles as he sat in the stream, smiling at his catch.

The crackling flames of the campfire and heat warming up his face from after splashing around in the cold water comforted Siegfried. He felt content. His stomach was full and the forest was peaceful. Birds chirped high in the treetops and squirrels would occasionally scurry by to pick up a stray acorn lying next to Siegfried as he sat against a tree, hands placed behind his head. As the high afternoon sun was at its peak, the lull of sleep began to come over him…

XOOOOOX

A soft hand stroking his face woke Siegfried from his slumber. He slowly opened his eyes, being greeted by the sight of an outline of a woman in the dull morning sun. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Once his vision cleared he looked around at his surroundings. He first noticed that he sat in bed, inside someone's home. Beside him was a table with a blue vase of red roses. His bed was weaved and he looked at the tan quilt covering his legs. He felt the quilt to see if it was real.

"Good morning, beloved."

Siegfried looked at the woman. He could not make out any distinguishable features on her. To him, she was just the figure of an everyday woman. Despite this, his mouth involuntary spoke the words, "Good morning, dear." He smiled but he didn't know why. He got up out of bed and put on his shirt. He wandered out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. He splashed a handful of water onto his face and looked into the mirror. He could see himself clearly enough.

In the living room the smell of cinnamon rolls filled his nostrils. He spotted them set out on the coffee table situated in the middle of the room. He took a big bite out of one. He jumped when he felt something tugging at his pant leg. He looked behind to see a small figure holding on to him. Again this figure was unidentifiable. Siegfried couldn't tell whether it was a girl or a boy.

"Daddy, will you come play with me?"

Siegfried was forced to speak, "Of course."

The child tugged him outside the front door. What Siegfried saw when he stepped out was the gloomiest and depressing sight one could see.

Their house sat upon a hill over looking an old cemetery. Or was it a cemetery? Hundreds, possibly thousands of moss covered headstones surrounded the house. The headstones were in shambles, randomly placed here and there in a haphazard manner.

"Come on, Daddy." The child ran to a tombstone and pointed at it, "Tell me about this one, Daddy!"

Siegfried shook his head, his eyes wide with dread, "No, my child, I would rather not talk about it."

"How about this one then?"

"No. I would rather have you not know of such things."

"Daddy, did you forget? There's no way you can forget all this," the child motioned to the entire cemetery.

Another voice called to Siegfried from behind, "Come now, dear, you must tell him. Do you think you can really keep us, your family, in the dark about this, do you? Our child must play amongst these tombstones everyday, and I have no room to grow a garden because of all these headstones. It is a part of our lives as well."

Siegfried felt as if he was losing control of himself, "Very well then…" He approached the tombstone and kneeled to read the name. He brushed away the moist moss from the name, "Frederick…Schtauffen…" A rush of dismay overcame him, "No…no…" Tears streamed down his face. He fell to his knees, "No…not him…Anyone's but his…please…"

XOOOOOX

Siegfried awoke in a cold sweat. He was breathing heavily from the impact of the dream. He began to sob quietly.

Siegfried guessed it was about eight or so at night. He immediately put out the campfire and continued on his journey. He scolded himself for wasting so much time. He now traveled at a much faster pace. He walked alongside the stream. He was in so much of hurry that he didn't even stop to admire the beautiful night scenery. Fireflies lit up the stream in a dazzling glow. The crescent moon reflected off the surface of the dancing water. The different chirps of crickets added to the fantasy-like world before him.

He had been walking for a couple of hours before he stopped dead in his tracks. He listened to the surrounding wildlife. An owl hooted and flew off silently. Siegfried ignored that and continued to focus. A careful step. Broken twig. An exhale. He knew it. Someone had been following him from the beginning. He brought forward his zweihander, the Requiem. "Come out! Face me, coward!"

A calm chuckle came from behind a large tree, "Ah, your senses are sharp." He chuckled again. He emerged from behind a tree and faced Siegfried, smiling confidently. The man that appeared was a tall man with a big build. He wore a white outfit lined with chain mail. His head was hooded.

Siegfried's eye was caught by a golden glimmer that came from the mysterious man's left eye. The man slowly reached back and pulled forward a large white scythe strapped to his back. He held it calmly in his gloved hand. "I've been watching you for quite a while now. Just a bit selfish, aren't you? After all you have done, you hope to just go on and _repent_? You should just accept your cursed fate and let it take you. Things would be _so_ much easier on you."

_This man's no normal fighter…looks like I'm in for a challenge._ Siegfried held his sword to his side, ready to charge. The other man held his scythe midway on the staff in his right hand and got into a stance in which he stood sideways, with his left hand outstretched in front of him and his scythe behind his other side. "Let's go!" Siegfried charged. "Hmm," the other grinned in anticipation.

As Siegfried approached the man, he stopped very briefly and sidestepped and spun in a full circle, sending his zweihander in a vertical slash at him. The hooded man grinned as he raised his left hand and caught the blade easily on his palm. He gripped the sword and began to move it aside, despite Siegfried's resistance.

"What the hell!" Siegfried grunted as his heavy sword was so easily being forced aside.

"You and I, we're not even in the same league, boy!" He took the head of his scythe and slammed it into Siegfried's stomach. Siegfried stumbled back, but he did not let go of his sword. His foe had begun to approach him. He pulled his scythe back and then swung it fiercely and quickly forward, right at Siegfried's head. Siegfried ducked and retaliated with a lunging headbutt. The man stumbled backwards, his senses stinging and tingling. He shook his head to regain his senses and opened his eyes to see that Siegfried was charging at him. Siegfried swung a hard diagonal slash at his neck, but the man blocked quickly with his scythe. He booted Siegfried in the stomach and followed up with a mid-placed sidekick, hitting him in the chest.

Even though he was wearing armor, it did not stop him from being sent flying into the stream. The harsh clank of metal hitting rock rang in Siegfried's ears. The sound of running boots alerted him. He looked to the front and saw his foe running with his scythe raised up shoulder-height. He sent it swinging down in an attempt to pierce through Siegfried's armor and into his chest. Siegfried raised his Requiem in front of him just in time. The tip of the scythe clashed with the broad side of the zweihander, giving Siegfried just enough time to thrust both his boots into the attacker's stomach. The man just slightly leapt into the air at the force of the attack, and as he did Siegfried rolled over backwards and got back to his feet. He ran forward and performed a running bicycle kick that hit the scythe wielder right upside the jaw. Siegfried followed up with a thrust with his zweihander. The chain mail on his target's chest prevented it from piercing through, however. He began to swing wildly, hoping to cut his enemy into pieces, but his foe blocked every swing with the shaft of his scythe. He even returned more then a few cuts with his scythe.

After several minutes of exchanging strikes with one another, Siegfried swung his sword in a full circle, and he swung it low. Siegfried missed when the large man jumped high into the air and landed perfectly on his feet like a cat. Siegfried looked in astonishment and began to back off and assumed a more defensive position. He crouched on one knee and held his zweihander upside-down in a slanted position in front of him.

He strained to catch his breath before he spoke up, "Who are you? Have you come for revenge, as well?"

"Hmm, you're tired already? I expected more from you."

Siegfried was shocked to see that even after all that fighting, this warrior wasn't exhausted at all. "Answer my question."

"Well, you pose no threat to me anymore. I suppose I'll humor you." He approached Siegfried with his scythe pointed at him, "I am Zasalamel. You have something I want, and I've come for it. I thought you could do my work for me, but you've proven yourself very useless. Just what have you done since that day at the chapel? You've wandered pointlessly and achieved nothing. I'm done just standing by and watching you waste my time." He held his scythe up above his head, threatening to end Siegfried's life.

Siegfried was waiting for this moment. With one swift motion, he swung his zweihander in a large overhead circle that cut Zasalamel's throat wide open. Blood splattered out of the wound and onto Siegfried's face. Zasalamel stumbled back and forth, gasping for air. He fell to a knee and held his throat. Siegfried closed in to finish the job. However, Zasalamel had lived for many lifetimes, and he knew how to deal with pain. His throat had been cut open many times before.

As Siegfried closed in, Zasalamel grabbed his scythe near the blade and swung around, stabbing the blade into the side of Siegfried's abdomen--which wasn't covered with armor. He pulled it out and smiled mockingly at Siegfried, "I'll see you soon…" His eyes went dark and his soul faded away.

"Gaa...ugh…" Siegfried held his side and groaned as the pain stung through his side. He held it with his hand to prevent any more bleeding, but it was in vain. Blood was pouring out of his side like a fountain, "No! Not now!" With adrenaline pumping through him, he forced himself to go on, leaving a trail of blood behind him.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"No."

"No? Why?"

"You've done your part, Sophie. Please, go back home to your children, they miss you. Don't forget that you have a family."

"So do you, Cassandra! Mother and Father have been worried sick. This is my duty, not yours."

"No! It's mine now! I've taken up this responsibility. I have to follow through with it…"

"Cassandra, I can't let you do this…"

"Well then, stop me! I won't go without a fight!"

"I won't fight you...I can see that your determined. But I won't let you do this alone…"

XOOOOOX

After spending a day in the inn and having dinner in a local restaurant the next night, the two sisters left town. They treaded down the same road that Siegfried had just traveled. The whole time they stayed silent, both afraid to say something to the other. Cassandra remained stubborn in her decision to go on, and Sophitia didn't want to be to demanding over her little sister. She did not want to seem that she was trying to control her life.

After a long silence, Cassandra gathered up enough courage to talk to her sister, "Sis, where are we heading?"

Sophitia stopped in her tracks, surprised, "What? I thought you knew where you were going. I'm only following you. You are the one who insists on going on."

"Well, I don't know where to start. You're the one who knows about Soul Edge. Where do _you_ think we should head?"

Sophitia, keeping her true opinion to herself, answered reluctantly, "…The Azure Knight…"

"Huh? The Azure Knight? Sophitia, wha…"

"We'll follow the rumors of the Azure Knight..." She paused, rubbing her arm as shivers traveled down her body, "Wherever he is, Soul Edge is."

Cassandra looked back at the town which was now lit up. It looked so inviting now, "Rumors…do you think anyone back…"

"No," Sophitia interrupted, "I've already asked. We should head north. He's more likely to have impacted Northern Europe, not down here."

"Oh man…" Cassandra quietly complained to herself as she began to walk back up the road. Sophitia followed behind.

The wind was chilly and the night was oddly silent when the sisters happened upon some sort of obstruction in the middle of the road. Cassandra squinted to make out a better image.

What lay before them was a body lying in a puddle of blood. He was heaped over in a fetal position, arms wrapped around his stomach. Cassandra walked up closer. His face was turned away from her, and she didn't have the heart to turn him over, "Oh my…Sophitia! Come quick! Look!"

Sophitia took a look at the man's body. He was still barely breathing, barely alive. Then she looked and the pool of blood he was lying in and gasped, "How could he still be alive?" The man was obviously unconscious, but he looked as if he could still feel the pain. "Cassandra, come help me carry him. We need to get him some help before he dies."

Cassandra's heart leapt into her throat as she heard this, "Die…?" She helped Sophitia pick up the body despite her uneasiness. As they picked him up more blood began to drip from his side, making small ripples in the blood puddle. He didn't react to any of what was going on. It was as if he was already dead. "Sis, should we take him back to the town?"

Sophitia struggled to secure his limp arm around her neck and shoulders, "I doubt he'll make it that far. We'll have to take care of him ourselves."

Cassandra nodded and took a strong grip of the body. From the corner of her eye she could see the man's pale face. She couldn't help but take a look. What she saw shocked her. _No…it's him! _Her eyes began to burn and water as she now desperately heaved the body off the road and into the surrounding woods. She was trying to move so fast that her sister almost stumbled and fell herself trying to keep up.

XOOOOOX

Siegfried winced as he began to wake up. Grimacing, he forced his eyes to open. Along with his consciousness came pain. Terrible pain. He groaned and rolled onto his side, wrapping his arms around his wound, trying to somehow ease the pain. He drew in a breath through gritted teeth and closed his eyes again. He just wanted to go back to sleep. As he felt his side he realized that it was bandaged. He opened his eyes and looked down at his body. He was covered with his cloak. He noticed that his shirt was missing, as well as his armor. He remembered that where he was now was not where he had fainted. He forced himself to sit up. He groaned in pain, but as soon as he was sitting, the pain subsided. He brushed away his hair and looked around. To his dismay, whoever had saved him had brought him back into the forest. No one was around. Deciding no one would mind if he just left now, he struggled to get to his feet. He picked up his cloak and found his shirt laid out on a large stone. Apparently someone had washed it because the caked blood was almost all cleaned off. It still had the hole in it, but it would serve him fine the way it was. When he was about to dress himself, he found that he was filthy. Dirt was all over his limbs and caked blood was as well. "Perhaps I should bathe before I go." Before he left, he still needed one last thing, "My sword..." He found it propped up against a tree beside a pair of short swords and shields. _Wait…could it have been her? But who is she with…?_

He followed the sounds of splashing water to the lake. The same lake he had bathed in before he fought Zasalamel. _They've carried me all the way back here? _A bit irritated, Siegfried began to rip branches out of his path as he walked. He walked out into the clearing and dropped his belongings on the ground. He began to undress when he heard voices in the lake. There he swore he saw two angels bathing in the lake, both unaware of his presence. He admired their bare bodies. Two beautiful angels were there before him, and here he was half naked. He felt ashamed so he quickly pulled back on his pants and his shirt. _I should hurry elsewhere…_

Sophitia noticed something moving from the corner of her eye. She turned to look and saw a man dressed in green pants and shirt hurryingly picking up his armor and sword. "Cassandra, is that him?"

Cassandra, who had her back turned to that side of the lake, turned around and yelped to see a man looking back at her naked body. "Ah!" She quickly pushed herself deeper into the water to hide her body when she realized that he Siegfried was awake and walking.

Siegfried saw a full frontal view of the wonderfully looking girl and quickly turned around to hide his shame.

Still hiding in the water, Cassandra began to swim slowly to the lakeside, "Umm…how are you feeling?"

Siegfried turned around and looked the blushing Cassandra in the eye. He quickly looked away and nodded, "Yes, thank you." He paused for a second and then continued, eyes still glued to the ground, "You're the girl I met back in town, aren't you?"

Cassandra nodded, "Mm hm, thank you for the money, by the way."

"I suppose we're even now," he finally looked back at her adorable face and smiled, "Thank you again." He finished picking up his things and began to walk away. The voice of the other woman stopped him, "Wait, could you tell us what happened?"

Siegfried looked back at another beautiful woman. This one seemed more mature than the other but she still had an easy and relaxed air to her, like the younger one.

"It's a miracle you're still alive, you know. You must have been really determined to live; otherwise, you would've died, like anyone else. Please tell me what happened." She kindly passed a smile which warmed Siegfried when he looked at her.

He looked at his reflection in the Requiem, _These women, they make me feel comfortable, welcomed. _He sighed and sat down, dropping his things to the side, "I met a man one night. I forgot how long it was ago, but it must have been recently."

Cassandra nodded and a worried look came over her face, "Just two days ago. You slept the whole time."

"I see. Well then, two nights ago a man wielding a scythe confronted me. He said that he wanted something of mine. I didn't know what it was, but I wasn't going to let him try to take it what ever it was, so I fought."

"And that's how you ended up so badly hurt," Cassandra pointed out.

"Did he manage to take what he wanted?"

"No, I don't think so. I don't carry around much, and what I do carry around is still in my possession right now."

Sophitia picked up her towel laid out on a smooth rock and got out of the water, wrapping herself in the towel as she did. _I was hoping he encountered Nightmare… Wait, what am I saying? Why would I hope for such a thing? _"This is a bit off subject, but would you happen to know anything about the Azure Knight?"

"What? Why…why do you want to know about him?"

"So you have heard of him. We're trying to find him. I…have unfinished business with him."

"Did someone close to you…" Siegfried's heart began to beat faster. Sweat began to drip down his brow. He did not want to have to fight these two. If they were after Nightmare, then sooner or later they would somehow discover that he and Nightmare were one and the same, just like the others had.

"No," his vision shot back to Cassandra, who had gotten out of the lake and was wrapped up herself, "We're after his sword, Soul Edge." She walked over to a small pouch lying on top of her folded clothes and pulled out a metallic fragment.

_A fragment of Soul Edge…_

"For too long Soul Edge has plagued my family," Sophitia looked into the clouds, a far-off look in her eyes, "I will destroy that sword once and for all. I was so close all those years ago…"

'_So close'? Has she dealt with Soul Edge before? _Then it struck him. He finally remembered. He had met this woman before. More than once actually. The first time they met he remembered he knocked her unconscious in a temple in her home town. That was about seven years ago. The second time they met was less clear to him. He remembered speaking with her; he remembered her taking his hand…

"I must request that you give that fragment to me," Siegfried stood up and looked at the women with piercing eyes, "It's going to cause you more trouble than you expect."

"What?" Both sisters were surprised. They didn't expect him to want the fragment.

Siegfried's eyes were unwavering, "Give it to me and go back to where you came from. You said you have a family…well, go back to them. You're doing something extremely foolish."

Sophitia didn't expect him to be so hostile. She motioned for her sister to move away from him, "We know what Soul Edge does to people. We know how men desire the sword for themselves…"

Siegfried picked up his sword, "Nightmare is gone. You won't find Soul Edge by following rumors. His time in this world is gone. Soul Edge is gone as well. The last thing to do is to get rid of that fragment before it can do any harm."

"Nightmare is gone? What do you mean?"

"Nightmare's dead. I killed him."

A look of both shock and amazement came across Sophitia's and Cassandra's faces, "How did you do that?"

"Forget how I did it."

Cassandra whispered into her sister's ear while Siegfried waited impatiently for them to give up the fragment, "Sis, do you really believe that?"

Sophitia shook her head uncertainly, but Cassandra thought back to Siegfried's generosity back in town and decided to trust his word. She approached Siegfried with the fragment in her hands and held it out to Siegfried.

"Cassandra, wait," Sophitia was too late. Siegfried had already taken the fragment.

Siegfried looked into Cassandra's round eyes, and they seemed to be pleading to him. They looked full of the hope that Siegfried was honest, that he really was a good person. He looked down into his right hand that held the fragment. He closed his right fist and clenched it tight. _This hand once belonged to Nightmare. It took so many lives and carried out evil. Now I will do good with the same hand. _He clenched his fist even tighter. When he opened his hand, what looked like dust poured out.

"Whoa, how did you do that?"

"I learned I could do this after I defeated Nightmare. I suppose it's my special talent."

Cassandra smiled big and wide, "I knew we could trust you. Sophitia, he ground the fragment into dust!"

Sophitia smiled in relief, "I saw."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"There he is!"

A large battalion of soldiers surrounded a wide open field in which one lone figure stood. The commander of the battalion raised his sword above his head and flashed the sunlight off of its blade, signaling that it was time to attack.

"For our Lord!"

The entire battalion rushed down the hill, yelling while they waved their Lord's flag high in the air.

"For the Lord!" The soldiers called out in unison.

The first wave of soldiers rapidly approached the lone figure. Their weapons were drawn, ready to cut him down. Instead, they were met by Nightmare and a large swing of his large, strange sword. They were all sent flying, no longer any threat to this knight.

A second wave came from behind. Nightmare looked back angrily. His eyes flashed red and he turned to meet them with a large swipe of his monstrous claw. Sparks flew as his claws slashed through their armor.

Wave after wave of soldiers came, only to meet quick defeat. _These fools are desperate. I'll end their misery. _The black knight finished off the last wave of soldiers and ran his sword into the ground. The purple eye on his blade surveyed the scene briefly then looked approvingly at its owner. At Nightmare's command, the sword's pupil dilated and a strong aura began to emanate from it. The soldiers' bodies suddenly began to pulsate and they burst into an unnatural fire. The flames were glowing a very fluorescent red. After that a red glowing wound slit open on their bodies, allowing the fluorescent green wisp of a soul to slowly flow out. The moans of the fallen soldiers' souls came from every direction.

The black night hunched over as if in pain, and a tearing, sinewy sound came from his chest and right shoulder. Slowly, what looked like mouths on his chest and shoulder began to open. Saliva dripped the teeth of the misplaced mouths. The monster looked back up and observed the souls that were now flowing off into the sky.

_No. You will not get away. _He unleashed all his power and formed a destructive black dome that surrounded him and all the souls. The dome devastated everything that got in its path except for himself, of course. The souls that were once simply wafting in the air now slowed and began to gently flow back down to the ground.

"Grraahh! Now come unto me!" With a shout, the two mouths on his body began to suck in everything that would fit, including the souls and debris left from the destruction. Like a vicious cyclone, the vortex created by the mouths tore at the grass and soil. The dead bodies were tossed around like ragdolls in the vicious winds. Souls were inhaled like smoke, until all of them were absorbed by the monster.

He finally stopped and the two mouths closed with a soft clamp. Nightmare took in a long breath and pulled his sword back out from the ground. A high pitched giggling caught his attention.

"Hee hee! Master, that was impressive!" A girl cheerfully skipped towards him.

"Tira. What do you want, now?" The knight asked without turning to face her.

The girl wore tattered green clothing that revealed most of her body, though she didn't seem to mind at all. She bowed briefly, and her green hair covered her face as she did. She looked at Nightmare with wide purple and grinned big and wide, "I have news of your sword, Master."

"You do? Tell me."

"Your enemy seems to have lost it."

"What?" He turned around, eyes glowing a furious red.

"Unfortunately I found him too late. When I arrived, he didn't have your sword with him, and he looked very distressed. I assume someone stole it. Something like that isn't easy to lose track of, right, Master?"

"Whoever stole it is a fool. I will find my sword, and I'll tear the human apart."

"By the way, Master," Tira looked inquisitively at her master, "How was this harvest? How long do you think you can go without feeding, now?"

"These souls were weak and empty. They'll only last for about a month. At least they came in hoards."

Tira wanted to know more, "You never told me why you need to feed so often, Master."

"This body is inefficient. I constantly need souls to keep my form. That sorcerer burdened me with a hungry body when he revived me. What a waste of my time…" Nightmare looked at his sword, "Tira, I want to know who stole the sword. Go find it for me. And while you're at it, I want you to find me a host body."

"Yes Master! Anyone particular in mind?"

"Yes, actually. Go find me the Dread Pirate. He should do just fine."

"Ooh! The Dread Pirate! He sounds strong!"

"He is. His body holds many fragments of my Soul Edge. He even has the female half of my sword. I want that body, Tira. Bring me Cervantes."

"Yes Master!" Tira disappeared in a cloud of mist as a flock of ravens flew overhead.

Nightmare himself decided to start moving. If his sword's thief was anywhere, he would be in Western Europe, not all the way out here in Asia. He disappeared in a burst of purple and black smog.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

It was far too hard to put into words. His experience in death.

He was falling. It felt like he was drowning in sand, and his lungs felt as if they were filled to the brink with it. It was suffocating. His ears, nose, and mouth were completely filled with the stuff. Yet, he could still take in breaths. Breaths of sand that would fill him again and would stay in him. He could not breathe out, only in.

Then came the fear. The overwhelming anxiety seemed to eat at his mind. As he continued to fall, he tried to look around himself at where he was. He couldn't see anything.

When the falling slowed, he knew what was next. He braced his body for it, but how could one ready one's body if one is not in the physical state that is a body? He asked himself this question many times, but he still continued this habit. His mind screamed in pain and his "body" writhed in agony as what felt like electricity surged through his body. Now the hellfire would come.

The hellfire would scorch him, but not his "body"; it would scorch his very soul. The feeling was indescribable. It dulled his senses. He could no longer feel anything at all. He felt as if he was no longer existent.

He now waited for the beast to rise from the flames and bite off a piece of his soul, but what awaited him was something new. For the first time ever he looked up and actually _saw_ something. An eye. A large red burning eye. It glared at him wide-eyed, angry almost. The man felt an overwhelming fear and was truly intimidated by this thing.

The eye began to burn, creating a tunnel of fire. Suddenly, an incredible rapid feeling of plunging came onto him. He saw many pairs of shadowy hands rise from behind him to pull him down. The fiery tunnel rapidly passed him as he fell down into what he predicted would be Hell.

The landing was not at all soft. He forced his battered "body" to stand up. The barren wasteland he stood before was excruciatingly hot. Lava seeped through the cracks in the hard ground. The smell of brimstone filled his nostrils.

He realized where he was when he looked upon the great crags that surrounded the wasteland and the fire-colored sky above him. _This is Tartaros!_

Just as he realized this, a cloaked figure appeared before him. In his hand he held a strange scythe, and the loose sleeve of the cloak hung freely just above his hand, revealing that his hand was a skeleton. Underneath the hood the skull of some kind of demon peered out.

_Zasalamel…_The being's distorted voice rang grandly as he spoke.

_Death…are you the Reaper? _The man's telepathic voice echoed through the small valley.

The being that stood before him raised his hand and pointed a finger at Zasalamel. He then pointed back at himself with his thumb. An inhuman laugh followed as he vanished in a flare of gray light.

_I see…_Even without words Zasalamel deduced what the message the being passed on meant. But before he could contemplate on the revelation he just received, another portal opened above his head, pulling him into the whirling vortex of light and smoke.

XOOOOOX

Zasalamel had returned to the world of the living, but unlike his previous rebirths, he was back in his old body. Instead of being reborn, he had been revived.

Immediately he learned just how close he was to achieving his goal. "I now know what I must do. All this time I have hoped for Death to find me. Now I know better. I must find Death myself. My soul is protected by a barrier…none can get in…but I can force others into the barrier. Death stopped looking for me a long time ago, so I never truly met Death. My past lives were all ended by "accidents", not Death…"

Zasalamel got to his feet and picked up his scythe. He pulled from a pouch a handful of crushed herbs. He inhaled them into his nose and closed his eyes, concentrating, "The smell of the unnatural…is where _he _was…Yess…there it is." Zasalamel left on a journey to where his end awaited him.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Little did Siegfried know that his two foes were back amongst the living, which is why he spent the night camping out relaxingly with the two women he had just met. For dinner he spent nearly two hours hand catching fish for him and his companions. As he did, Cassandra watched rather amused by the riverside. Sophitia smiled to see that Cassandra hadn't let their burden weigh down her spirits.

Siegfried watched over Cassandra and Sophitia as they slept. Sophitia slept very peacefully, sleeping on her back with her face turned to one side and her small blanket pulled up to her chest. Cassandra, however, was curled up into a ball and was struggling to find herself a comfortable position on the cold, hard ground. She pulled her blanket up to her chin, uncovering her feet in the process.

Siegfried smiled just a bit when he looked at the restless angel. He himself sat up against a tree with his cloak covering up his body. He tried to go to sleep, but the night kept him wary. He decided that he wasn't going to be able to get much sleep, so he took his cloak and walked over to Cassandra's body. Slowly, he pulled off her small blanket and covered her with his cloak. Then with her blanket, he folded it neatly into a rectangle and he slipped it under her head after he gently lifted it up. The young woman grumbled just a bit but returned to her slumber, this time more quietly.

He decided to go for a walk down to the river. He splashed a handful of cold river water on his face. He sat down on the riverside and stared into the dark sky. Thin clouds blocked out the dimmer stars that dotted the night sky. A chill breeze blew on his hair.

"Siegfried," Sophitia walked over and sat beside Siegfried.

"Sophitia, why are you up?"

"I just barely had a dream, Siegfried. I finally remembered why you seem so familiar to me."

"So you remember, too?"

Sophitia nodded, "We met on more than one occasion, didn't we?"

"I can only remember the first time…H…How'd your head heal up?"

"It healed fine. Nothing a little rest and ice couldn't fix."

"I'm sorry for being so barbaric. I have no excuses for my actions back then."

"No no, no worries…You know, I can remember the second time we met…" Her voice quieted and trailed off for a bit. She paused for a few seconds and looked at Siegfried, "You seemed so depressed. You looked like you had lost hope. I still remember your eyes. But you also seemed so angry. You were so protective and withdrawn. And now I know exactly why."

"Soul Edge fooled me…it made me believe that it had resurrected my father, but when the illusion asked me to pierce him with my sword, I knew I had been tricked. But I wasn't without fault. Back then I could willingly change into Nightmare…"

"And when you transformed into Nightmare you feared nothing, you weren't even afraid of committing murder…"

"Not to mention against innocent children…" Siegfried gritted his teeth and looked away from Sophitia in disgust of himself."

Sophitia felt guilty for bringing up his past. "Did you really overcome Soul Edge's control?"

Siegfried nodded, still upset, "I did."

Siegfried saw Sophitia's hand move, and for a second he thought that she was going to take his hand, but instead she placed it reassuringly on his shoulder, "You're very strong. I doubt many people could do what you did. I doubt you'll ever have to deal with it again."

"But there's still one last thing I must do before I can rest," he brushed his hair out of his face, "Soul Edge still needs to be destroyed."

"I thought you said that Soul Edge was gone?"

"I lied. But since you know who I am I see no point in hiding it any longer. I had found a way to seal away Soul Edge's power, and I was planning on finding a way to put it away forever, but one night it seems that someone had stolen it from me."

"What do you plan to do?"

"I'm going to find it and whoever stole it. If I must, I will end one more life to get it back. It should not have fallen into anyone else's hands. What if they manage to reawaken its power…I'll have to start all over again."

Back at the campsite, Cassandra began to stir again. "Uggh…" She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She blinked twice to clear her vision and looked around for the others, "Hey, where'd they go?" Almost immediately a thought came to her head, _Is Sis with Siegfried…? No…she wouldn't do that!" _

A bush rustled over by the other side of the camp. Cassandra listened and heard twigs snap. "Hey...is that you Sis? Siegfried?"

The rustling stopped.

Cassandra grabbed her sword and stood up. She stared into the bush and easily made out a gray coat sewn together with red string. She bent down and scooped up a rock. She waited for a second, and then let it fly. A small click was followed by a quiet cuss.

"Goddammit…"

"I see you, idiot!"

Before she could do anything else, Cassandra felt a big hairy arm wrap itself around her face. Whoever it was was probably trying to choke her, but the size of his arm was too large for her neck.

Cassandra gasped for air every time her struggling would force the arm aside for just a second. Though muffled, she managed to spit out an insult, "You…smell really bad!"

"Feisty!" The one hiding behind the bushes popped his head up. Cassandra nearly broke out laughing despite her being choked. This man was not to mention ugly, but very funny looking. He had ruffled, dusty colored hair and thinning eyebrows. He had a very round nose, and he had two large buckteeth. His face was covered in freckles, and Cassandra could've sworn he was cross-eyed.

"Hey, Ralph! Do something, will ya! She's starting to wiggle free here! I can't hold on forever!" Upon hearing that, Cassandra began to struggle even harder, kicking and elbowing and even biting, though she only tried that once after getting a taste of the big man's sweaty arm.

"Yeah, hold on!" The other man began digging through the three campers' belongings, "I think there are more of 'em with her!" He started to dig through Cassandra's pack, pulling out her unmentionables and other items. He seemed to be enjoying it, like how he enjoyed Sophitia's when he searched through hers just before.

Cassandra's muffled cries could even be heard through her captor's arm. "Stop it! You pervert!" She finally managed to force her face out just long enough to scream at the top of her lungs, "Sophitia! Siegfried! Help!"

"Did you here that?" Sophitia jumped up and turned around.

"Yes. It's Cassandra. Let's go." Siegfried ran on ahead as Sophitia followed behind.

Another man appeared into view as the funny looking one and the big one continued what they were doing. "Have you found it yet?"

"No, not yet."

The new man looked over to the squirming Cassandra and calmly addressed the big man, "Alfonzo, be careful."

"Wha…?" The big man looked down at Cassandra's hands and saw that she had flipped her sword around, and was now pointing it at his side. "Whoa!" He quickly pushed her to the ground and shoved her face into the ground. "Thanks, Vincent!"

The man named Vincent calmly strolled over to Cassandra and kicked aside her sword. "Be gentle, Alfonzo. She has a good face. You wouldn't want to bruise her before any we have any fun. Not much of a turn on, you know?"

"What do you want…?" Cassandra panted as she tried to speak.

Vincent kneeled down and stroked her face, "As if you don't know. It's what every man wants."

"What? Sex?"

Vincent briefly thought about her guess, figuring that she was partially right, "Well, the second thing men want most. Can you guess?"

Cassandra only looked up at him furiously.

"Soul Edge."

"Soul Edge? We don't have Soul Edge!"

"That's not what we were told. We're getting paid a small fortune to deliver it."

"What makes you think I have it?"

"Well, we know you don't have it, but we heard that the one who does is with you."

_Wait…Siegfried? _Cassandra wondered.

"Vincent! I don't see it anywhere!" Ralph called out from behind a tree.

"Too bad."

"D'ya think we've been duped?"

"Whatever…But at least let's have some fun. This girl looks…energetic." He began to slowly drag his finger up Cassandra's leg and slowly up her dress. Cassandra began to struggle even harder, screaming and yelling.

"Get your hands off her!"

Vincent stopped at the command. He looked up only to be blindsided by a collision from another man. He flew a few feet before landing in a nearby bush, cussing as the branches poked him.

"Siegfried!" Cassandra just wanted to jump up and hug him until he fainted, but Alfonzo was still holding her down.

"You too!" Siegfried forcefully kicked the big man in the face. Cassandra could hear the sound of cracking bone as Siegfried's foot came in contact with his face. Alfonzo toppled over backwards, holding his face and rolling around on the ground in pain.

Siegfried quickly picked up Cassandra and moved her behind him. Vincent stumbled out of the bush with a straight sword drawn. "Cassandra, stay behind me."

Cassandra nodded. "Good, now follow." Siegfried slowly sidestepped towards his zweihander. He passed an unconscious Ralph, who Sophitia had knocked out with her shield after sneaking up on him during Siegfried's commotion. Laid up against a tree was his Requiem. As he picked up his blade, he gave orders to the two Greeks, "I want you two to stay back, okay?"

Sophitia agreed, "No problem."

But Cassandra was less willing to stay back, "No way, Siegfried! Let me get him! He tried to play with my body!"

"Relax, Cassandra. I'll take care of him. Those other two are just thieves. This one, well I'm not sure how skilled he may be, but we should be on the safe side."

Vincent held his sword upright in front of him with his other hand poised next to it. He began to circle Siegfried, but Siegfried did not let him circle around towards the women. Vincent attacked first. He took quick steps toward Siegfried and spun his sword in his hand in an upward motion towards Siegfried's face. Siegfried cautiously leapt back to avoid being sliced. That moment of vulnerability gave Vincent an opening. He lunged forward with a thrust aimed directly at Siegfried's gut. Siegfried quickly parried the thrust with his sword.

The impact of the bigger sword clashing on the smaller one completely threw Vincent off balance. He fell to his hands and knees and tried to get back into his stance, but Siegfried batted at his chest with the broadside of Requiem, launching Vincent a few feet back. Vincent had the wind knocked out of him. He was on his knees, gasping for breath when he saw something from the corner of his eye. He turned to look, but all he saw was a flash of white and a brief feeling of pain before everything went black.

Cassandra satisfyingly brushed off her shield. Sophitia was too close for comfort in that situation. Her ears were still ringing from the clash of skull and metal. "That's that."

Siegfried couldn't believe what he had seen. Not since his days in the Schwarzwind had he seen such a brutal and intolerant girl.

"Cassandra! Did you kill him?" Sophitia yelled at her younger sister.

"No. I can still see him breathing." Cassandra answered rather nonchalantly as she pointed at his body.

Siegfried was still speechless. He would never have tried to bash in someone's head like that. Too brutal.

Cassandra looked at Siegfried, who felt his heart speed up at the look, "Siegfried…they said they were looking for Soul Edge…"

"They were?" He was curious. He walked over to Alfonzo, who was still crying in agony. Siegfried gripped his shirt collar and looked at his face. It was rather swollen and his nose was apparently broken. "You! Did you come looking for Soul Edge?"

Alfonzo nodded.

"Why?"

"We were hired to do so."

"By whom?"

"A pirate. He promised to pay us. A lot. We took up the offer."

"Who directed you to us?"

"A man who looked to be Egyptian. He carried a scythe."

"Him…One last thing. Where is this pirate?"

"We met him in Spain. I forget what city."

_Spain? Could it be him again?_

Sophitia heard it too. Her blood ran cold thinking about that day seven years ago. The day that ruined her life.

"Thank you. That's all I needed to know." At that, Siegfried grabbed Alfonzo's shoulders and forcefully pulled him forward as he headbutted him. Cassandra cringed at the sound of skull on skull. Alfonzo's body went limp and Siegfried dropped him. "You should leave before they wake up."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow, "What about you?"

"I'm heading out my own way."

"Wait! What about Soul Edge? I heard them say something about Soul Edge."

Sophitia interrupted before Siegfried could explain, "Are you going after it yourself?"

"Yes. It's my fault that I lost it. It's my responsibility to get it back and destroy it."

"Wait, what? Destroy it? I thought you said it was gone?"

Siegfried and Sophitia both looked stressfully at Cassandra, "Cassandra, Siegfried should tell you what really happened."

"I did not destroy Soul Edge. I put it to sleep. I have been searching for a way to destroy it, but I lost it." Siegfried looked at her almost apologetically.

"So now someone else has it?" Cassandra gulped.

"Yes, unfortunately. Forgive me."

"Well, so what should we do?"

Siegfried looked at her quizzically, "_We?_"


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Tira waited for the Dread Pirate in the same spot where he had been killed nearly seven years ago. She sat carelessly on a boardwalk with her legs crossed and her hands at her sides pressed against the wooden planks. She whistled and swung her legs as she waited for his boat to appear.

Dusk was setting in. A mosquito buzzed past her ear. She swatted at the insect, but it only came back to pester her again, hungry for a meal.

"Grr…"

She turned to the side and waited for the mosquito to steady in the air. Her eyes followed its every movement. When she found her opportunity, she clapped her hands together and squished the mosquito between them.

But now she was irritated. She quickly got up to her feet and gritted her teeth, "Dammit! Is that damned pirate going to show up or not!" Her voice traveled out to sea, where the sound of breaking waves hushed it.

Tira peered out to sea, and despite the dimming light she spotted a large ship making its way to port. "Is that it?" She squinted harder to make out a clearer image. A smile came across her lips, "Hee hee! Prepare to be boarded, Cervantes de Leon!" The mist began to envelope her body again, and in no time she was gone again, leaving the port town shrouded in thick fog.

Cervantes noticed the sudden fog as well. It began to thicken from just a faint mist to a blinding fog. He could hardly make out his hand in front of his face. "Aye, something foul is afoot…"

A high pitched laugh rang from atop a mast. Cervantes looked up and saw a girl dressed in green swinging her legs gleefully sitting atop his ship. The fog had cleared up enough so that he could make out a flock of ravens circling up ahead.

"Hee hee hee! Cervantes de Leon, I presume? Hee hee! I've been waiting for you for a long while."

"You damn girl! What are you doing up there! Come down here now!"

"Hey! Don't yell at me! I'll have one of my ravens defecate on that fancy coat of yours next time you do!" Tira grinned mischievously.

Cervantes pointed his sword up at her, "Stupid girl! I'll gut you!" He disappeared in a quick flash and reappeared floating in front of Tira. He attempted to cut at her, but she nimbly backflipped off the mast and landed like a cat on deck. Tira laughed mockingly and maintained her composure as Cervantes began to vent.

"What do you want, girl!"

"That's Soul Edge, isn't it?"

Cervantes floated back down onto deck and stared Tira in the eyes with his own immortal eyes. "Yes, it is. Have you come for it?" He smirked confidently, knowing that if they truly fought, Tira would have been dead in a matter of minutes.

"No. But I know you want the rest of the sword, don't you?"

Cervantes growled under his breath.

"Your body is falling apart. You have to constantly absorb souls in order to stay alive, don't you? My master can fix that for you. He too suffers from the same flaw. Do you know why?"

Cervantes stood calm and composed despite the girl's mockery of his current predicament.

"It's because Soul Edge has been put to sleep. Its power is gone, but with the remaining fragments we can help revive the blade. You have fragments inside you, right? You can help us."

"I'm no fool. What's to keep your master from killing me and taking the sword for himself? It is completely obvious, girl. Now tell me every detail of your master's plan."

"Well, once the blade is revived, Master will fuse with you, so he'll have a permanent body form and you'll stop breaking apart, not to mention you'll have both blades of Soul Edge."

Cervantes only scoffed at the offer, "I see. I know how Soul Edge uses its hosts, and I have absolutely no intention of becoming its slave again!"

"Fine then," Tira began to walk away from Cervantes and the mist began to reappear, "But you know damn well that without Soul Edge, your body will soon crumble away into dust." She wiggled her fingers in the air, describing the dust being blown away in the wind.

Cervantes didn't want to admit it, but the girl was right. But he did not want to lose his free will to the blade again. He did not want to become a puppet like that German boy had. But he wanted power, and he once, briefly, knew what it was like.

"Stop, girl!"

Tira turned around with a pleased smile on her face.

"Take me to your master."

XOOOOOX

"I take it you're the Azure Knight?"

"Yes. I was hoping that you hadn't been affected too, but you have. You have no use to me now."

"No use? Oh please. What use does your body serve? It's nothing but a copy of that boy's body Soul Edge awakened. Just a fragment of the true Azure Knight. The boy made a name for himself by slaughtering hundreds, even thousands of mortals. The name Nightmare incites fear in humans' hearts because of him, not you, remember that!"

"Yes, and you remember, too, that those twenty years of murder you committed are now forgotten now that the Azure Knight's legacy has erased your terrors from the minds of the people."

"Grr…" A strong jealousy began to brew inside the two demons.

"Well then, we both have one common foe. The one who caused this all…"

"True."

"Then I suppose that makes us allies…for now."

"Yes. We will take that boy's life, if only to feed it to Soul Edge. He'll pay for his bravery."

"I've learned something. I've learned that he has friends, Master."

"Don't worry, Tira. We'll take care of them too."

"I know of one who may be able to aid us. If we are to be able to revive Soul Edge…then no doubt we'll need his body. The only reason why he walks this world is because of the fragments fused in his body."

"Ahh, yes, him. I know of some others as well."

"Mwa ha ha…so now I see. An alliance aimed for one goal."

"Yes. Soul Edge will breathe again."

The two demons extended their hands as a sign of camaraderie, but no doubt the obvious treachery that awaited the end of their quest was no secret at all. But for now…they would ally.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Cassandra yawned as another day came to an end. Siegfried, who was ahead of the other two, looked back, a hint of agitation on his face, "You tired?"

Cassandra shook her head immediately, hoping not to get on his bad side, "Oh, no." She wanted so badly to get only on his good side, but he had begun to grow irritated since the night the two women forced him to take them along…

XOOOOOX

"_We?_ Why do you think you should do anything? This is my responsibility alone." Siegfried did not need to drag these two women along with him.

"Well, I think we could accompany you to take care of you. Obviously you don't have the means to provide yourself with medical attention, whereas we do," Cassandra opened her bag and showed Siegfried her first-aid supplies.

"I can't let you come. Do you know how dangerous this could be? Many are still after the sword, and if they discover that we're after it, then they'll no doubt try to get us out of the way."

"Don't worry. Sis and I can take care of ourselves."

"No."

"We want to make sure the sword is destroyed, too. We're all after the same thing, Siegfried. We should work together."

"You'll only slow me down."

"Not true!"

Sophitia spoke up, "Siegfried, Cassandra can be quite stubborn, you know. I doubt you'll be able to convince her to leave you."

A sigh escaped Siegfried's mouth, "Well, if this is what you really want, then come along, but I expect no complaining. You are the ones who decided to come with me, remember…"

XOOOOOX

"If you really want to rest, then I can stop for you, Cassandra."

Cassandra was pleased and surprised to hear this.

"I can understand. I have been pushing you a bit too hard. Sometimes I forget that I have women following me." Indeed they had been traveling nearly nonstop. For about two weeks they traveled north, deciding that they would cross over into Italy to take a boat to Spain, their destination.

Sophitia shivered as the first winds of an oncoming autumn blew. "I would like to rest too, but don't you think it might be a bit too cold to stay out here in the open?"

"It would be nicer to stop and rest at an inn, but as far as I can see there are no towns or villages nearby at all."

"Sophitia," Cassandra tapped Sophitia on the shoulder while holding herself, trying to stay warm as well, "Where do you think we are?"

"Well, we have been heading north, and I'd suspect we're near crossing into Albania."

"Nowhere near Italy, huh?"

"No, but if we follow the coastal countries then I'm sure we'll get there soon."

"How long?"

Siegfried entered the conversation again, "Don't worry about that. We'll get there soon."

"Well, we might as well keep going on." Despite her fatigue, Cassandra wanted to look strong in front of Siegfried. She only wanted to impress him.

"Then I'll try to find us an inn to stay at on the way. Hopefully we'll come across a town tonight." Siegfried removed his cloak and offered it to the two sisters. Sophitia kindly refused it and suggested that Cassandra needed it more. He wrapped it around Cassandra and pulled the hood over her head. He took her chin in his hand and lifted her face to his. He whispered to her in a very warm tone that caused Cassandra's cheeks to turn a soft red, "Sorry to push you so hard, Cassandra…"

A few hours passed and Cassandra could barely keep her eyes open even as she walked. Not even at home had she ever stayed up so late.

Sophitia noticed her sister's wobbling and offered her shoulder to hold on to. Cassandra gladly wrapped her arm around her older sister and walked along.

She began to slump onto her sister as time went by, "Cassandra…could you stop slumping over me? You're going to push me down."

Half asleep, Cassandra mumbled an incoherent reply. She felt Sophitia shaking her and quickly snapped back awake. "Sis, were you shaking me?"

"Yeah."

Off in the distance Siegfried made out a faint cluster of lights. "Look, Cassandra," he smiled when he saw her sleepy face, "I'll get you a nice room to sleep in, all right?"

Cassandra blushed and tried to hide her embarrassment, but it was apparent to Siegfried and very apparent to Sophitia.

"I'll carry her from here, Sophitia." He gently took Cassandra's wrist and wrapped it around his neck.

"Siegfried…no…" Cassandra's voice sounded rather meek, very much unlike her. Despite her protest, she actually did hold on tight to Siegfried, and so he picked her up in a piggyback. He carried her all the way to town.

The town was silent. The villagers all slept peacefully in bed, far from the rowdy hollers and laughter of the local bar. Cassandra's head was plopped over on Siegfried's shoulder. Her soft breathing and slight moaning told Siegfried that she was fast asleep. He looked back at Sophitia and found that she was nearly falling asleep, too. He realized that he needed to find them a place to sleep very soon.

Following the road, he came across a large inn. By the sounds of singing and music, Siegfried assumed that it was also a tavern. He considered for a moment whether this would be a good place for women to be, but there was no other choice. Chances were that this was the only inn this town had.

Inside the smell of cigar smoke and roasted pork mixed with the sounds of celebration and revelry. The scene flashed Siegfried back to his first time in a bar. The age of 16. He was disappointed in himself for following such a wrong path a boy.

Cassandra began moaning again, and awoke to the ruckus surrounding her. She found herself with her cheek pressed snuggly against Siegfried's. She lifted her head and surveyed her new surroundings.

Siegfried felt her stir, and turned his head, "Hm, you're awake? Did you have a good rest?"

A cute smile answered him. "Are we gonna stay here?"

"Yes."

"Where's Sophitia?"

"Right here, Cassandra." A soft tap on her shoulder was a good enough answer for Cassandra.

"Would you like me to let you down now?"

Cassandra yawned and nodded tiredly. She was gently put down by Siegfried and then she went to stand beside her sister.

"How was the ride?" A soft giggle reached her ear, "Was it nice?"

Cassandra saw her sister smiling mischievously. She also saw the bags under her eyes due to a lack of sleep. Cassandra only smiled back and wrapped Siegfried's cloak around her. Sophitia gladly took the offer and clutched it tightly around her body.

"You two should go to bed. I'll pay. Here are the keys to your room." Siegfried handed Sophitia the keys and turned back to the innkeeper. He reached towards his waist and felt around for something.

"Oh, Siegfried, here," Sophitia gave Siegfried a small sack of coins.

"Thank you. I forgot I'm penniless." Siegfried half smiled, partially because he realized just how bad off he was, not even having enough money to pay for a couple of ladies' room.

By now, Cassandra and Sophitia were fast asleep in bed. Sophitia had left Siegfried's cloak on Cassandra's bed, and she had grabbed it and was now holding it very closely to her body. Both the sisters were too busy dreaming to notice Siegfried wasn't in the room.

Siegfried sat at the front counter in the tavern, pondering on their next destination. He convinced himself that he couldn't have Cassandra and Sophitia go on for so long without rest anymore, and now that autumn was coming, camping out wouldn't be as convenient as it had been.

He stared at the wall, watching how the dancing and pounding of the bar swayed the lanterns, and in turn how the swaying lanterns made the shadows dance across the walls.

"Yes, your largest mug, please." Siegfried heard a deep, thickly English accented voice of a man to the side of him. He couldn't help but look at who it was. He hadn't expected that there would be Englishmen out here in Eastern Europe.

When he saw who it was, a rush of adrenaline filled him, and his testosterone kicked in, "You!"

The Englishman looked at who had just yelled at him. His blood, too, began to boil at the sight of the young man he saw, "YOU!" His voice rumbled through the tavern, momentarily silencing the drunkards and barmaids as they looked at what could've caused such a racket. They went back to their business after they realized it was only going to be another bar fight.

"You little German bastard!"

"Hässliche Schweinhund!"

"'Schweinhund...You have the nerve to call me that again?"

"It's what you are, Schweinhund!"

"I thought I saw the last of you!"

"You'd think so, after the beating I gave you!"

"Ho Ho! Beating! Please! My own mum could've beat me harder! And as for you, well, let's just say that I did what your papa should've done to you a long time ago, you little brat!"

"Be quiet."

"I obviously beat you, boy!"

"And is that why you had a gash the size of my sword across your body?"

"No! It must be why every single one of your ribs was broken! Did your mum fix them up nice for you, little bastard!"

"Don't even speak of my mother! If you want, then we can settle this right here, Nathaniel!"

"Don't you use my name! You are no friend of mine to use that name!"

"Fine then, Rock, der Schweinhund!''

"Enough! Let's settle the score!" Rock picked up his giant mace, and Siegfried pulled his zweihander out of its leather strap, "Gladly!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Stop you two!" Finally the reasonable innkeeper chimed in to stop a potential massacre that would cost his inn thousands to fix. "Let's not do this here, alright! You could hurt my guests!"

That fact sunk into Siegfried's head and Rock's thick skull as well, resulting in a growl and grumble from the big man.

"Now why not relax and have your drink, sir?"

Rock took his seat on a stool and propped his mace up against the counter. "Bartender, three more."

"Of course, sir."

Siegfried began to walk away, but Rock made sure he didn't leave without finishing what they started, "You're not running, are you?"

A smirk came across Siegfried's lips, "No, of course not. I'm just going to check up on someone."

"Why not enjoy a drink, Siegfried," Rock's voice had a hint of mockery.

Siegfried, not one to be taken so slightly, took a seat on a stool just one chair away from the big Englishman. He noticed that Rock had placed his head gear on a stool beside him. It seemed to be made out of some type of metal and looked like the face of a wild feline to Siegfried, but it had one odd addition, metallic ram horns were attached to the feline's head. Siegfried had never seen such an odd helmet before.

Suddenly, a mug slid across the counter and stopped in front of Siegfried. Then another one, and this one bumped against the first, causing some of the ale to spill over the top. He looked at Rock inquisitively, who had now begun chugging down his first mug.

When he had swallowed the entire mug, Rock pounded his fist on the counter and gave Siegfried an angry look, "Drink up, boy! I want to fight you at your most dangerous."

"Fight me when I'm drunk?" Siegfried watched his reflection jiggle in the ale.

"Of course! Ho ho! I've already fought with you sober, so why not see what you got when you're tipsy?" Rock quickly poured the other mug of ale down his throat, spilling some over the sides of his mouth and onto his large, ugly fur coat.

Siegfried didn't move. He had sworn never to drink again. But before he could explain to Rock why he wouldn't drink, a couple of barmaids whose attention had been caught by Siegfried took his hands and began to joke and tease with him. Siegfried couldn't make out what they were saying due to the loud laughter around him.

He began to feel very uncomfortable when one of them took him by the hair and pulled his head back, and with her other hand she opened his mouth. Then the other barmaid took one of the mugs and quickly drained it down his gullet. They let him go and immediately Siegfried lunged forward, coughing and gasping for air.

"Darn, he's no fun, is he?"

"I was hoping he could handle that…"

"He must not be much of a partier."

"Too bad. What I would give to sleep with a man like him…"

Siegfried watched as the two barmaids began to walk away. He watched appreciatively at the swing of their hips as they walked. Realizing he was staring, he shook his head and looked at the empty mug. Much of the ale was now all over his armor and his clothes underneath.

Rock had already asked for three more mugs. He glanced at Siegfried and said derisively, "Little boy, can't even handle one drink."

Rock was not going to outdo him, so he took his last mug and chugged it down like a camel.

A few hours later, the tavern had begun to empty out as the drunkards stumbled back home to their wives and families. The tavern was now quiet, the music had stopped, and the cooks had stopped cooking. Even the barmaids had gone to sleep, whether with another drunken man or in their own beds was none of anyone's business.

Still sitting by themselves at the front counter were a rosy faced Rock and a sick Siegfried. They hunched over their mugs, staring into their emptiness. Rock sighed heavily, and Siegfried tried hard to keep from vomiting all over himself.

A burp made its way up from Siegfried's belly, "I remember why I promised to stop drinking…"

A large belch nearly scared Siegfried off his stool. Rock itched his beard lazily.

"Rock…"

"Huh?"

Siegfried struggled to spit out the words that were now floating in a stomach full of alcohol, "Why…are you down here?"

"Why am I…Oh! Why am I down here? Well…I'm looking for…you know…Soul Edge…I was told that Nightmare was around this region, and that he had Soul Edge."

"You're still after it?"

"Yes…"

"You're too late. It's gone."

"Gone! What!" Rock overreacted just a bit, spitting into Siegfried's face as he yelled.

Siegfried calmly wiped off his face, "It's not something you want, Rock. It'll ruin your life…"

"I don't care…I want it."

"Foolish…"

"You would know, wouldn't you?"

Siegfried nodded, "It doesn't matter…You're too late anyways. It's no longer here."

Rock nodded too, "I know. That's why I'm headed up north. I recently learned that an old man had the sword, and that he was heading up to the middle east."

"The middle east?"

"Yes. And I'm going to find it. No one's going to get in my way!"

"I suppose I'll have to stop you now, then."

"Then shall we?"

"Let's."

Rock picked up his mace and Siegfried picked up his zweihander also. Rock put on his headgear, and slapped his face a couple of times to clear things up. They turned to the door and prepared to walk out. But a soft voice called out to them from behind.

"Siegfried, where are you going?"

Cassandra stood just a few feet behind them, her eyes filled with worry.

"Cassandra, shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Shouldn't you, too?" She walked up to Siegfried and looked into his dazed eyes. "Are you drunk? You smell like ale, Siegfried."

"Sorry Cassandra. I got a bit carried away." Siegfried looked away in shame.

"Well, then come rest. It's better to sleep it off." She reached out and took his hand. She began to pull him along with her, but Siegfried didn't budge, "Siegfried?"

"I'll go up soon, Cassandra. Just wait for me okay? I just have a little thing to take care of."

Cassandra noticed his sword and the big man with just as big a mace beside him, "You're not going to fight, are you? Siegfried, you shouldn't?"

Siegfried smiled reassuringly, "It's only gonna be a little duel, not anything deadly, Cassandra."

"No! Come to sleep, please."

A long sigh escaped his lips, "Alright, but let me talk with him for a bit, please. You should go back to your room first, okay? I promise I'll be up in a minute."

Cassandra reluctantly nodded and started back up the stairs.

Siegfried turned to Rock, "Okay, now, quick!"

Rock agreed, "Now!"

"Whoever is still on their feet is the winner."

"Go!"

Rock and Siegfried both charged, heads down, straight at each other. They rammed heads like bucks, and the sickening sound of skull on skull sent cringes up and down the innkeeper's spine. He walked out of the kitchen in which he had been helping to clean the eating utensils and looked upon two unconscious men, one out face first on the floor, his hair spread out all over the floor, and the other out on his back, his belly heaving up and down.

"Damn those two!"

"What's the matter?" A dishwasher came out to see what had happened as well. "Oh, I see…What should we do with them?"

"What else do you do with trash? Throw 'em out!"

XOOOOOX

The next morning brought sighs of exasperation from two well-rested Greek sisters.

"And now what?" Cassandra blew up her hair, apparently stressed.

"Let's wake him up," Sophitia's angelically beautiful face was restored now that she had finally gotten some sleep.

Not too gently, Cassandra "tapped" Siegfried's already aching head to wake him up from his blissful slumber.

"Ugh…"

"About time, Siegfried." Siegfried looked up above him and saw Cassandra standing above him, her hand on her hips and her usually cute face now a furious red.

"Ugggggh…" Another groan issued from the big man who had just sat up.

Both men rubbed their heads and stared at each other with deadly eyes.

"I see your head hurts!"

"Same with yours!"

"So you still want to try and beat me, 'eh boy?"

Siegfried paused and thought for a second, "You see, your stubbornness is what makes you and I just far too different to ever get along, Nathaniel…"


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

This was the place where he began spinning his plans together. This was where Zasalamel performed the most heinous act of his life. He revived Nightmare here.

"Yess…I can feel it! This power!" The lingering energies of the two soul blades gave the chapel a stale, stuffy atmosphere. It would have been suffocating to any normal human, but to Zasalamel it was a blessing.

He cut the palms of his hand with his scythe. His blood flowed out of the wounds and splattered on the chapel floor. "Now my blood is a part of this too…" He began to chant incantations in his native tongue and raised his arms up in the air as if he was worshipping an ancient god. Blood continued to pour from his palms.

As he felt his spell taking effect, Zasalamel felt a sudden jubilation, a great joy, and he began to chant more fervently, louder, and faster. He had never felt like this in many, many millennia. For the first time ever, he truly felt a smile of happiness cross his lips, and he even laughed. As he rejoiced, he could've sworn he spotted Death hiding in the shadows cast by the chapel benches.

"Yes! I see you! Death is near! Death is here!"

A jet black orb began to appear above his head. It seemed to be absorbing all the energies in the chapel, including what Zasalamel believed was Death.

As the orb began to grow steady with its form, Zasalamel lowered it in front of him, keeping it steady as it floated in between his bleeding palms.

"Yess.." The ethereal orb began to siphon into his open palms. Zasalamel felt a surge of energy, unlike anything he had felt before. His muscles tensed with power, his senses were sharp, far different form the increasingly dull senses he had been living with all these millennia.

"Ha ha ha! This is spectacular! Finally!"

But while he reveled in his success, his mind began to alter. He suddenly felt dizzy, and his eyes grew blurry, and he began to experience his reality in a different light. Everything suddenly felt fake, unreal. He felt his mind disappearing, disappearing into darkness.

As his mind was being altered, so was his body. It was beginning to tear itself apart. Flesh tore and organs rotted away, bone grew and changed form, and the ethereal orb began to take form in his abdomen, where his viscera were once.

During this transformation, Zasalamel's last fleeting moments of sheer helplessness, confusion, and a brief moment of depressing loneliness imprinted itself on the new being's mind.

"My…mind," the being's distorted voice resonated like thunder, "It is…lonely…" He looked at the lone scythe lying unattended on the floor. He picked it up in his skeletal hands and almost immediately, the energy from his body flowed into the scythe, transforming it just as it had transformed Zasalamel's body.

He caressed the blade of the scythe and admired its power, "With Irkalla's help, I will send minds to accompany my own…I live in a lonely world…But others will keep me company soon enough…"

Zasalamel had performed one reckless act inside the walls of Ostrheinsburg Chapel, but this last act of his was foolish. Surely no human can contain the power of the two soul blades in his body. Soul Edge's and Soul Calibur's energies were not meant to be mixed as one. Only corruption would ensue. And now Zasalamel paid the price for his foolishness. His body had become something inhuman. His mind had become an abyss, and it had now fallen into itself. Zasalamel would be alone in his own mind forever.

Could it have been that Zasalamel had foreseen his own fate during his resurrection? Zasalamel can now no longer answer. Only Abyss can.

XOOOOOX

_He sees no evil. He hears no evil. He speaks no evil. But his actions, they are pure evil. Or are they the actions of a lapdog? Whatever they are, he is only a human who has been misguided; he has been misguided to the point that he is a cold blooded killer, believing that what he does is not wrong. Killing for him is second nature…_

Abyss ran these thoughts through his mind as he stood atop the infamous "Money Pit", looking down into its depths.

_…and a skilled killer can help me find company…_

He watched a lone figure crawl around on the top tier of the pit. It sniffed at the floor like an animal. Abyss knew that this was the being that many called "The Odd One".

Voldo guarded this pit. He guarded it with his life. His master told him to do so. But his master was long dead.

"_Voldo…"_

Voldo couldn't believe it. His master was speaking to him again. He could hear his voice inside his head. But he had stopped speaking to him for many months now, so why would he speak now?

"_Voldo, it has been long, hasn't it my faithful servant?"_

Voldo wheezed and cried out in delight.

"_Voldo, now is the time for you to prove your worth to me. I need Soul Edge, Voldo. Once you deliver it to me, I will be able to return to the living, Voldo."_

Voldo nodded is head energetically.

"_But you will need assistance, my dear servant. Look! Behold me! I have returned in spirit Voldo!"_

Voldo quickly whipped his head around to where the voice had directed him. Though he could not see, Voldo sensed a dominant presence standing before him.

"_I will return in body once you retrieve Soul Edge, Voldo. Until then, this is my body. Serve me, your master Vercci."_

Voldo nearly squealed in delight. He quickly crawled to his master's feet and grabbed his leg. He began to affectionately rub his face against his master's leg.

Abyss looked down upon the groveling oddity. He grinned in satisfaction as Voldo crawled backwards and assumed a praying position. He bowed low for his master.

Abyss had accomplished what he had come here to do. _Yes, my pet, grovel before me._

Voldo heard Vercci's voice one last time, _"Now sniff out my sword, loyal Voldo."_

Voldo obeyed and agilely leapt out of the pit and into the open world.

"How simple. Just a few good words from his master…" Abyss disappeared into the sky, his eyes set on his next ally of deceit.

XOOOOOX

"Ugh…just one more…knot! Gotcha! Alright, Greed! I'm finished!" A young woman brushed her raven colored hair out of her face. Her long bangs always seemed to get in her face.

"Then where's that big oaf?" The old man spun his kunai on his fingertip relaxingly, blowing smoke rings every time he drew a puff from his pipe. The sunlight reflected off his monocle and temporarily glared the vision of the younger woman.

"Grr…Who knows? For all we know he's headed off to fight again. Why didn't you carry the sack, Greed?"

"Look at me, Miser, I'm old," Greed grinned, showing that he was missing the tooth between his left front tooth and his left upper canine, "You don't expect me to carry such a large bag, do you?"

"Shut up, old man." Miser looked away, tired of seeing the old man's grin.

Suddenly in the distance, the crack of splintering wood and a toppling of a tree gave the two thieves a hint of where their companion was, and what he was doing.

"Ha ha! There he is!" Greed put his kunai back in its holder on his waist.

Out from the forest in which the tree had been toppled, a large figure emerged. He wore a large stone helmet that included a mask, and he wielded a large axe along with a large sack slung across his shoulder. His body was covered in stripes, and it seemed to resemble wood grain.

Greed greeted the large figure, "About time! Did you have your fill?"

The giant grunted.

"Well good, now why not give us that sack, huh?" Miser pulled the sack out of the giant's hand. She went back to what she had been tying before and opened the sack, "Now time for you to get in!"

Muffled cries tried to protest, but the sack quickly went over his head. "Stop moving, will you!" Miser elbowed the sack and a muffled yelp came out.

"You! Berserker! Come carry this, now!" Miser held out the tied opening of the sack to the giant Berserker. He grabbed it with his enormous hands and easily slung it across his shoulder.

The trio crossed the dry, arid desert without any complaints.

"You know, if we don't get that man some fresh air, he may expire before we can get him to Abyss."

Miser cut an opening in the sack with her katana, "There, that's all the fresh air he'll need."

"Ha ha! Your quite the bitch aren't you, Miser?" Greed took a puff of his pipe again. "I wonder, how did Abyss ever persuade you to join? I mean, you don't seem like the type of woman who settles for just any deal. What did he offer you?"

Miser suddenly became quiet. Her eyes were fixated on the dry sand underneath her feet.

"You see? This was what you were like when you first joined us. You used to be very reserved. What could possibly persuade you to help anyone else with anything?"

Miser snapped out of her trance-like state. Her voice was soft, and sorrowful, "Hm, what offer did Abyss give me? Simple, Greed, he offered me my life. He let me keep it."

Greed raised an eyebrow, "He threatened your life? Not like him…"

"How about you? Why'd you join?"

"Me? Abyss offered me thrills. He promised to me that he would provide me with many opportunities to hunt. I love that thrill, the thrill of the hunt."

"Hunting humans? Interesting, Greed." Miser looked back at the big Berserker, who walked quietly behind them, "What about this big lug?"

Greed scoffed, "Him? Let's just call it 'mental persuasion'. He has no free will at all."

"Mind control…"

"That could've been you, Miser. Consider yourself lucky."

"About Abyss, what are his motives? He hasn't informed me of anything yet."

"Who knows? I don't even know. He hasn't told anyone, not even the long-time members or the new recruits, like you. All I know is that we are all in for it for our own personal rewards, our own gain."


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"No! No, please!"

The gigantic axe silenced the pleas of the helpless man. Blood stained the axe, as well as the cobbled streets of the small English town. Four large purple eyeballs with brown stone-like limbs stood beside a golem, their sharps limbs dripping with blood as well.

"Silence, worm…" The frightening golem propped his axe up on the blade and leaned callously on the handle. He looked proudly at his work. Dozens upon dozens and dozens of innocent villagers lay slaughtered, their corpses horribly maimed.

"Are you finished?" Astaroth turned back to see Cervantes standing atop a steeple of the town church.

"Yes. I got every single one of these little bugs!"

Cervantes watched the golem's stitched mouth, wondering just how he spoke despite of it. "Good. Then I'll take it from here." Cervantes raised his Soul Edge into the air and instantly it absorbed wandering souls of the dead. "And what of the fragment?"

Astaroth opened his palm and revealed the fragment lying snuggly in his palm. The scowl on Astaroth's face and the curse he uttered under his breath told Cervantes that he wasn't going to give it up to him.

"Give it to me, Astaroth." Cevantes floated down to confront the golem face to face.

"Don't be an idiot, pirate. You won't take this fragment from me. It's mine!" Astaroth motioned for the four beings to approach.

A cocky smile crossed Cervantes's cold lips, "Charades, stop!"

The Charades obeyed the undead pirate and stopped, infuriating the golem who cut one down in frustration. A purple, coagulated liquid spilled to the ground as the eyeball was split in half. The petrified limbs broke apart and dropped to the ground. The coagulated liquid vaporized into a purple gas and flew into Cervantes's Soul Edge, where it belonged. Another Charade took up the petrified fragments of limbs and added them to its body, receiving jealous looks from the other two Charades afterwards.

"They're much more prone to obeying me, monster. I have Soul Edge." Cervantes waved his sword in front of Astaroth's face mockingly. Then, without warning, he stabbed the hand that Astaroth held the Soul Edge fragment in.

He kept the blade there until the fragment had been absorbed into Soul Edge. He pulled it out and calmly walked away from the incensed golem.

"Come here! I'll kill you, you damn insect!" Astaroth readied to chop the pirate down to size, but the sudden shift in the Charades' gaze caught his attention.

"What the…" Behind him, a lone figure approached from down the street. He calmly walked; in fact, he almost seemed to be strutting. He wore a wide brimmed feathered hat and resembled a noble in his clothing. On his face he wore a joker mask.

Cervantes wanted to see who had come as well, and he looked on as the man cam closer and closer. In his hands he held two weapons. They were held like tonfas, but the entire thing besides the handle was a complicated blade.

"Oh! I see! Another foolish human who thinks he can take me!" Astaroth laughed and slammed his axe against the ground a couple of times, trying to intimidate the man.

But he was not intimidated. He kept up his pace nonchalantly. Astaroth prepared to fight.

"Forget him, Astaroth. Nightmare has more for us to do. We still have one more village to go before we finish for today. Let the Charades handle him." Cervantes disappeared in a flash.

"No way! I'm going to kill this impudent bastard!" But before he could, a mist began to form and Astaroth was engulfed by it.

"What! No! Damn it, Nightmare! Damn it!" Astaroth was gone when the mist subsided.

Now acting on Cervantes's command, the Charades disassembled and flew at the lone man. One approached first, and was quickly cut down in one quick attack. The other two stopped their advance and reassembled. They formed their stone-like limbs into a rough copy of the man's weapons.

The first one leapt into attack and slashed at he masked man's face. He skillfully parried each slash with his own weapons.

The second Charade joined the attack, taking strikes at the man with kicks from its rock hard legs. Several did hit. The impact of the kicks made a strange clacking noise each time the kicks struck the man's abdomen. Despite this, he seemed unfazed.

In one spinning cut, the masked man defeated the first Charade. It poofed into smoke like the one Astaroth had killed. Then he caught the kicking one's legs and began to swing it. After swinging for one full circle, he let go and sent the Charade into a stone building. A loud crack was followed by a thump as the Charade fell back down to the ground.

The masked man casually approached it. In his hand he began to create a dark orb much like the one Abyss carried in his abdomen. He kneeled down and forced it into the giant pulsing eyeball of the Charade.

"Now take this to your master…" He finished off the Charade after finishing his job. He fixed his hat and disappeared in a gray flash.

XOOOOOX

"So did you do what I asked?"

"Yes."

"Hm, good…" Abyss and his servants all congregated in a dark chamber lit by torches underneath a large, decrepit pyramid. "You seem to be so much more obedient now, Revenant. Why so?"

The man in the mask took off the thing that concealed his identity.

In the torchlight, Miser shivered as she saw Revenant's face half lit by the flames.

The masked man was no man. He was a dead man, his body just a skeleton held together by magic and concealed by extravagant nobleman's clothing. The expression on his skeletal face was demented and sick, like that of a cold blooded killer's.

"I respect you. That damn, worthless Zasalamel…he took away my life and my humanity, making me into a puppet. I despised him. At least you, Abyss, can give me some hope that I can make my life something of my own."

"I was created out of Zasalamel's body and mind, Revenant. You do know that?" Abyss began to laugh, his tremendous voice filling the entire chamber. "Anyway, that's perfect. If all works out right, then we'll all have what we want in due time…"

Miser reluctantly and nervously spoke up, her voice trembling with intimidation, "Master Abyss…You have never told us what your plans are for that sword. What will happen now?"

Abyss slowly approached Miser. He grabbed her face and looked her dead in the eye, "Miser. Be patient. You'll all know what will happen soon." He passed a glance at all the warriors in the room.

"We would like to know now, Abyss." Greed didn't seem to have the same fear of Abyss as the other humans did. "Tell us."

Abyss seemed to grin, "Well well, Greed! A bit impatient, aren't you? You should trust me. I've kept to my word, haven't I? Haven't you enjoyed the sensation taking out your boredom on human lives?"

Greed stood firm.

"Very well then. What Revenant had was a part of my energy. He implanted it into a Charade. Now, the Charade will return to the blade from once it came and infuse my power into the blade. I know either the pirate's sword or Nightmare's sword will receive the Charade, which one doesn't make a difference. As long the receiving sword finds and becomes one once again with the real Soul Edge."

"And that's where the freak will play his role?"

"Yes. Voldo will hunt down the sword like his prey. Once he finds it we'll find a way to deliver it to Nightmare, who'll fuse the blades together. My energy will awaken the Soul Embrace and therefore cause the two swords to resume their power struggle."

"Then what?"

"We give it to the "Innocent Darkside". His spirit will disturb the two swords' energies and throw them into chaos. The result will be the second "Evil Seed", but now my energy will play its part again. Once the Evil Seed spreads again, I'll be able to manipulate it…and give us all what we want!"

"And who is the Innocent Darkside?" Miser asked.

"He is both the Child of the Evil Sword and the Fated One; he was destined to wield both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. His clashing destinies will cause chaos in the Soul Embrace. There is no other like him. There will be no one else like him. Only his energy will bring forth the Evil Seed."

"And why do you really need us?" Miser wanted to know desperately why she had been threatened into Abyss's servitude, "It doesn't sound like you really need us at all…"

"I need you to find all the Holy Stones. Those stones may be the only thing that can stop our recreation of the Evil Seed. So far you've done well."

"We have? I don't remember dealing with anything of the sorts."

"Oh! You don't? Those men I sent you after…did you know they held Holy Stones inside their bodies? The stones were created by the gods after the Evil Seed. They come in many forms: stones, sacred trees, swords, and they're even implanted into human bodies. They're here to stop the Evil Seed or any such event to ever happen again."

"Wait! So that man we tied up…"

"No. I wanted him for something else. I had heard that he knew something of where the Soul Embrace was. He knew nothing."

"Are you sure he didn't know anything?" Greed fixed his monocle back into place. It had begun to slip because of the sweat dripping down his face. The humid chamber was unbearable.

"I emptied his mind. I didn't receive anything."

"So now what, Abyss?"

"There is a girl…she too has a Holy Stone inside her body," Abyss cut the space before him with his scythe and created a glowing slit of light. It slowly opened into a portal, "Assassins, Berserker, I want you to kill her. And as for myself, I still need to recruit one more man. He too desires the destruction of the Holy Stones. He'll make a fine comrade."


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"The Holy Stones…" He bared his fangs out of spite as he skimmed through the old book. The stained pages nearly tore as he turned it, although he didn't do it so tenderly. "Do any of these old books have anything on the stones!"

He growled discontentedly when he looked over the entire large wall to wall bookshelf. Hundreds of books lined the shelves, but somehow he knew that none of them held what he wanted.

The moonlight shined through the open window. It was inviting. He moved to the window and looked up at the large moon. Its pale white light soothed him.

"No point in squandering away my time here…" He licked his lips and looked down into the town that this large mansion overlooked. "It's getting late."

Before he left, he picked up a bottle of oil sitting on the desk in which he had been studying. Seemingly in a sudden rage he hurled it into the bookshelf, shattering it and splashing all of its containments onto the books and shelves. He calmly picked up the candle which had provided him his reading light and dropped it into the pool of oil. Instantly a blaze ignited, lighting up his face in a sudden flash of light and heat.

He went back to the window and leapt out. Without even the smallest thud, he landed gracefully on his toes. In his calm, smooth voice he said to himself, "My dear sweet family…" His eyes turned back to the window of the burning room, and in his coldest voice that would have chilled any villain's blood, he added, "Burn in Hell…"

XOOOOOX

The empty streets were eerily silent. The chill autumn air only added to the lonely feel of the town. He sauntered down the streets alone. He didn't feel uncomfortable. It wasn't because he had changed—he had never harbored any fear of any kind—he enjoyed solitude.

The gas lamps lit the road dimly for him. Gnats clustered around those lamps. His shadow stretched along the road, and while he stared solemnly at his shadow, the shadow of a large object came into view. He immediately looked back and saw that a horse drawn carriage was coming up the road towards him.

To his surprise, the carriage came to a slow trot beside him. He watched suspiciously as the door opened. A gorgeous woman dressed in an elegant magenta garments and a black cap that had a black veil that look to be made of lace. "May I offer you a ride? It's cold out."

Upon seeing the woman, he smiled charmingly and accepted, "Why yes, milady. Very generous of you indeed."

He climbed into the carriage and took a seat beside the woman. She smiled seductively, "May I ask your name, good sir?"

"Why yes," he too smiled, "How rude of me. My name is Raphael," he took her hand and kissed it, "And who may you be?"

"Isabella Valentine."

"Well then, Madame Valentine, why have you decided to offer a lone man like me a ride in your carriage?"

"Oh, I don't know," she slyly began to stroke his hand and slid to closer to his side. Things were moving quite fast, as she had already begun to rub her body up against his. The cabby seemed to be totally oblivious of this; either that or he was trying to ignore it.

Raphael took her face in his hands and caressed her slowly, "So gorgeous…like a dream, Madame Valentine."

She chuckled invitingly, "Hm hm hm…please, Raphael, call me Ivy."

The way she said her name drove him wild. He quickly took her in a fiery kiss that led from her lips to her cheek and then to her neck. His hands groped her luscious legs.

As she moaned and giggled in pleasure, Raphael decided to make his move. He opened his mouth and placed his lips firmly on her neck…

When Ivy awoke, her neck felt oddly strained. It ached. She reached up and rubbed the side of her neck. She felt what seemed to be scratches of some sort. Or maybe punctures? "What on earth?"

She closed her eyes and took in a breath to relieve her of the stress she suddenly felt. When she opened her eyes, she found that on her lap was a rose.

"That man…what did he just do?"

XOOOOOX

Raphael didn't like the daytime anymore. He had never minded it before, but now he could barely stand it. It was too bright, and it tired him. He walked the miserable streets of the same town, still searching for any stories of the Holy Stones.

His appearance had changed from the night before. Not by much, however. He had let his hair loose, whereas the night before he had greased back his hair. His eyes were now their ordinary piercing blue, unlike his orange-colored eyes from before.

The sunlight stung his skin. At times he was afraid of it burning. He constantly had to take shelter in the shade to rest. "This daylight…" He brushed back his loose hair and watched the townspeople go about their usual lives.

_They're so ignorant. They live blissfully in their own world, completely oblivious to what goes on outside there own homes. It's people like this that disgust me. Soon, they will all become aware, and perhaps the intolerant fools will finally see their flaws… _

He passed by an old cemetery on the way out of town. Oddly enough, he could feel a force calling out to him from beyond the grave, although he knew of no one close to him who was dead, at least no one he cared for.

"What is this?"

He decided to act on this force. As stepped through the graveyard gates, he noticed that something wasn't right. He looked back out beyond the steel fencing, and he saw nothing. A white smoke seemed to shroud what ever was out beyond this cemetery.

He instinctively drew his rapier. The last thing he wanted to do at the moment was fight. The white smoke may have surrounded the cemetery, but it did not block out the sun. If this was a fight, then surely his sluggish body would only hinder him.

The presence began to make itself more apparent. Raphael's attention was diverted to a particular tombstone. It began to warp in shape as he stared at it. The shape it took was very familiar.

"Amy?" Raphael looked back around his surroundings. "If you think I'm this foolish, don't you even show your face to me! You've infuriated me!"

He rapidly scanned the graveyard, looking for any one who may have been there with him. His eyes came to rest eye to eye with Abyss.

"Raphael…" Abyss thrust his bony palm into Raphael's chest. The impact forced him skidding back.

Raphael stopped himself by grabbing onto a headstone. "Demon! What business do you have with me?"

"I know what you want…"

"Do you?" Raphael ran in to attack Abyss, but the demon flew into the sky, dodging the attack and leaving a perfect opening for his own attack. He dove down at Raphael, his horns threatening to pierce Raphael's chest. He quickly sidestepped, forcing Abyss to swoop upwards to avoid impact with the ground.

Abyss came to a stop in midair. He watched as Raphael assumed a fencing stance, his feet lightly tapping, prepared to dodge at a moment's notice.

From behind, Raphael's back was slashed by a long blade. He looked back, grimacing in pain. Abyss began to furiously cut at his body with his scythe. Raphael stumbled, but he kept on his feet.

"You fell for my illusion? I'm disappointed." Abyss threw his scythe like a boomerang. The spinning blade nearly took off Raphael's head, but he ducked just as he saw Abyss make the move.

"Hah! Like a boomerang? It's going to come straight back, isn't it?" Raphael timed it perfectly and jumped over the returning scythe.

Abyss caught his scythe just in time to see Raphael advance with a series of fierce and rapid thrusts with his Flambert. The numerous thrusts pierced Abyss's exposed pectorals and scratched at his bones.

Abyss didn't flinch and slashed his scythe in a graceful yet deadly uppercut. Raphael's torso was slashed clear open from the left side of his hip to his right shoulder. He fell to the ground.

Despite this he got back to his feet and clashed weapons with Abyss. His slashes were all blocked by Abyss. Abyss slammed his scythe into Raphael's stomach, knocking him motionless for a minute. Seeing that now was the time to finish the battle, Abyss began to form in his hand a dark orb. Electricity arched from the powerful orb. In less than a second he hurled it at Raphael. The power of the orb sent Raphael flying into a tombstone. His head cracked against the stone. It would have been enough to knock any man unconscious, but Raphael's resilience and stubbornness kept him awake.

Abyss closed in on him slowly. Raphael tried to stand up, but he was stopped when a spinning scythe pierced him through his shoulder and lodged itself into the headstone. Raphael yelled in pain.

"So I've won, haven't I, Raphael Sorel? Time for my reward. You are now in my servitude, Raphael. You will follow me and my other servants to the finest hour of my life."

Raphael cringed trying to pull out the scythe from his body, "…I won't follow you, nor will I aid you in your ambition."

"Do you really have a choice? Your life is in my hands now. Either die right here and leave your precious daughter alone in this world…"

Raphael was shocked to know that Abyss knew about him and Amy, "How do you know of my Amy, demon?"

Abyss continued, ignoring Raphael, "…Or join me and live, and give your Amy what is best for her!" Abyss pulled his scythe out of Raphael's shoulder. "Your choice."

Raphael gripped his shoulder and moaned in pain, "Ugggh…I choose…" Without warning, he attempted to impale Abyss's chest, supposedly where his heart would have been, but Abyss easily parried the lunge with his scythe, knocking the rapier out of Raphael's hands. Raphael tried again to attack, this time he jumped and performed a hooking overhead kick. The kick did little but knock Abyss to his knee. Raphael dropped to the ground, completely exhausted.

Raphael tried to push himself back up, but when he looked up at Abyss, he caught sight of his scythe swinging towards him.

The sharp pain rendered him breathless as the blade pierced through his chest and heart.

"Do you want to keep on living?"

Raphael looked at him with eyes that were filled with pain.

"Let me make you into something better."

"Ahhhhh!" Raphael screamed in agony as his body, particularly his chest, began to burn. He believed that this was truly his death, _Amy, you must forgive me. I have tried to help us, but things seem to be at work against me…_

Unexpectedly, the searing pain began to warm his body in a soothing way. His cries quieted and he breathed heavily. He looked down at his chest and saw that Abyss's scythe was still inside his chest. "Wha…what is this? What is happening?"

Abyss pulled out the scythe, and Raphael winced at the pain that it briefly brought. He looked and felt his chest. The wound had begun to close. "My body! Demon! What have you done to me?"

"The same thing you have done to those women that you have bitten. Only, your transformation is more perfect than their's. Look at your eyes."

Raphael picked up his Flambert and looked at his eyes in the reflection. Once again they were orange. "But there's still daylight! How could I have changed now?" He looked up at the sun, which indeed was still out.

"I've perfected your body. Say goodbye to your human self. This is your new self. Human blood no longer runs in your veins, demon blood does. Tell me, can you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"Exactly. The light no longer hinders your body, does it?"

"No," Raphael stood up, "Demon, you have blessed me." A sinister smile crossed his lips, "Things will be so much easier…"

"You believe that you are strong now…but wait until the night reveals your true strength!"

"Ha ha! Demon, you asked for my assistance? You have Raphael Sorel as your friend now."

XOOOOOX

Ivy stalked the streets, looking for Raphael. Who she encountered instead in the dead of the night was none other than her father.

"Come to me, my daughter…"

"You…you have cursed me!"

"Your life is in my hands, Isabella. Whether you live or die is up to me."

"Silence! I can change my own destiny! I'll start by killing you!"

"So rash…just like her father…mwah ha!"

Ivy readied her sword, waiting for Cervantes to come down from his perch atop the inn roof.

Cervantes aimed his pistol at his daughter; his voice was cold, "Say goodnight!"

"Oh no…" The bang of the pistol rang through the town. Without even noticing it, she swiftly leapt high over the bullet, seeming to float in the air. Her descent was slow and graceful, "What? Was that real?"

"That's odd…" Cervantes cocked an eyebrow, along with his pistol. "Isabella, my daughter, tell me how you did that. I know well that mortals do not have movements like that."

Ivy pushed her wonder aside, "Forget it, Cervantes! Just watch my blade!" Ivy whipped her blade, causing it to fall into a whip-like state, "Now extend!" She thrust the sword, sending the whip-like blade piercing through the air.

Cervantes jumped over the flying segments of Ivy's sword. He flew down at her, his swords at his sides, ready to slice her once the time was right.

Ivy reacted accordingly, and jumped just before her father came within range. As he passed underneath her, she fiercely stomped down on his spine with her high heeled boots. Her father was stomped into the ground with Ivy still standing triumphantly on his back.

Ivy wrapped her sword around Cervantes's neck, pulling it back, choking him and cutting his neck. "Stupid man…just die now!" After stepping off him, Ivy began to drag him along the ground, and then she began to swing him. She was spinning and laughing maniacally with Cervantes's strangled body being dragged and slammed against the cobbled streets.

Finally she lifted him off the ground, but she was still whirling and twirling like a little girl with a ribbon. She sent him higher, and higher, until Cervantes was spinning around up above the roofs. She pulled back her sword, cleanly slicing Cervantes's neck in the process. His body flew though the air, now free from Ivy's torment.

Ivy thrust her sword again, and this time Cervantes did not avoid it. Her elongated blade speared straight through his body. Ivy then pulled down on her whip sword, bringing Cervantes crashing to the ground.

His body smacked against the cobblestones. His body did not move. His eyes were empty. Ivy came up to him and placed her boot on his heart. She dug her high heels into his chest, into his heart. She wrapped her sword around his neck again. She wrapped it tight. "Off with your head…father. Goodnight!"

But before she could finish the job, life lit back up in Cervantes's eyes. A sadistic grin caught Ivy completely by surprise, "Surprise!"

He raised his Nirvana, and fired.

Ivy could not react in time to save herself. She fell over, her heart having been stopped by the bullet.

Cervantes got to his feet and stretched his neck. His wounds began to burn as they closed.

He proceeded to slit his daughter's wrists. First her left. Then her right. As he did this he spoke to himself, "Foolish child. You may have been adopted into a noble family…but just like your mother you are nothing but a tavern wench. You lived in a false world of false notoriety. That is not you…"

After finishing cutting her wrists with his Nirvana, he waited for her blood to drain.

After Ivy's body was lying in a pool of her own blood, Cervantes dropped his Soul Edge into the pool of blood. The sword began to slowly absorb the blood "Your tainted blood belongs to Soul Edge, my dearest daughter…It will quench its thirst…"

XOOOOOX

It was an hour before anyone came across Ivy's lifeless body.

"Is that her? No…it is…" The new Raphael kneeled before her body and dipped his finger into the stream of blood still barely flowing from her wrist. He licked the blood off his finger, "What a waste…"

Raphael picked up her limp body in his arms, "Don't worry, my feisty vixen, you'll be here with me again."


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

XOOOOOX

The others were asleep. Siegfried was the only one who was still awake.

Desiring solitude, he left the campsite and spent some time alone wandering in the woods.

He plodded through the damp soil idly. He felt tranquil. If he had really felt like it, he could have fallen asleep right there.

In the midst of his idleness, his right arm began to spasm uncontrollably.

"What's this…?"

He watched as his hand unexpectedly transformed into a grotesque claw. The hand wriggled its claws, seeming to work out the stiffness. At his shock, the claw lunged right for Siegfried's neck. With his free hand, he clasped his right arm and held it down, away from his throat.

He watched the hand warily, waiting for what it would do next. Then, just as fast as it appeared, the claw flashed back to normal, Siegfried's normal hand.

"An illusion!" Siegfried scowled. In his mind visions flashed rapidly, clouding his head with distracting thoughts. Then he saw him. In his mind, he saw the Azure Knight again.

_Is he…is he back? This cannot be! _He was in complete disbelief. All this time he had finally come to let go of his stress and despair, but now he found out that he was ignorantly enjoying a false freedom from his curse.

His face turned to the sky, his eyes set on the black sky. He felt as if he was looking into his own empty soul.

XOOOOOX

"He's been acting strange lately, don't you think, Sis?" Cassandra watched Siegfried from behind while she whispered with Sophitia.

"Yes. He's been like this for a while now, hasn't he?"

"I'm worried about him…"

"What are you two whispering about?" A large face pushed itself in between them.

"N…nothing…" Sophitia pulled back away from the big head.

"Rock, will you give me some room?" Rock's bearded face was practically scraping up against Cassandra's face.

Up ahead of them, Siegfried looked back, seemingly with an irritated look on his face, but then he became uninterested and looked back on ahead.

_He hasn't said anything to any of us…_Cassandra thought, _Maybe it's Rock's fault?_

XOOOOOX

"So this is the city where East meets West? The city where cultures blend! Big place!" The group finally reached their destination, a city situated on the Silk Road.

"Be quiet, Rock," Siegfried looked at all the buildings, trying to discern what building served what purpose, "You look like a fool."

"Watch your mouth!"

Cassandra tugged on his hand, "Hey, Siegfried, how long do we plan to stay here?"

"Not long. I'm only here because Rock said there was someone here who may be the one who stole Soul Edge from me. Once I find him then I'll finish what needs to be finished and leave."

"And that's it? I thought we could all travel together for a while longer, you know? I mean, we could go and find the rest of the fragments together, can't we?" Cassandra held onto his hand.

Siegfried didn't speak. He pulled his hand back from Cassandra and took off his own way.

"Don't mind him, Cassandra. Siegfried's always like this. Trust me, I would know. Come, let's go find a place for you women to rest, eh?"

Rock and the two Greeks went their own way as Siegfried had.

Siegfried stared absentmindedly at a sword hanging on ornate hooks on the shop wall. He wasn't looking at the sword itself; instead, he was lost in thought.

_Nightmare's alive…_

"Sir…"

_How…?_

"Excuse me…"

_It shouldn't be possible…_

"Hello?"

_I must…I must! He can no longer walk this earth!_

"Sir!"

A particularly girlish voice snatched his attention. He looked down to his side and saw a short girl with big round turquoise eyes and short light brown hair. Her hair was just a bit messy, but it looked good, nonetheless. She had a girlish air to her, and she seemed to bubble with energy and happiness. In some ways she reminded Siegfried of Cassandra.

Her outfit was a short, maid-like dress. She wore long white socks with lacy tops that reached up to her upper thighs.

She smiled. Her smile was very authentic and filled with cheerfulness. The kind of cheerfulness that could only be a result of a perfect and loving childhood.

"May I help you, traveler? It looks like you got your eye on that sword, right?"

"Um, yes…" She eagerly moved over to the wall and took the sword off the hooks. She nearly skipped back in her eagerness to impress.

"This is one of our finest swords. My grandpa forged it completely with his own hands. Cool, isn't it?" She gazed admiringly at the blade.

Although he had no interest in the sword, Siegfried took it from her hands, if only to make a conversation. "It's light. Very light."

"Oh! But it's strong! Trust me!"

"Thank you, but it's not my type of sword." Siegfried gently handed back the sword into the girl's hand.

For just the smallest second, Siegfried saw a little glimpse of disappointment in her face. But immediately, she smiled again, "Okay, that's fine."

Siegfried continued to browse uninterestedly at the weapons displayed throughout the shop. The girl proceeded to follow him. He eyed the weapons one by one.

The girl stared at the large sword strapped to his back, "You must be strong! Your sword's gigantic! I've never seen anything like it before!"

Siegfried removed his sword from the strap and showed it to her, "I've been trained to use this sword from the day I came of age. I'm used to it by now."

She scanned his Requiem up and down the blade.

"It's called a zweihander. My father used to use a sword just like this. I call this one Requiem."

While she awed at the sword, a glimmer from across the shop caught Siegfried's eye.

He put back his Requiem and made his way across the shop.

"What are these swords?"

"These are scimitars." Siegfried looked up to see another woman leaning over the table. She looked at him with a sly smile. Siegfried made sure not to stare at her well endowed chest.

"My name's Valeria," she extended her hand to him.

"Siegfried." He took her hand. "Did her grandfather forge these as well?" Siegfried mentioned the short girl.

"Grandfather…? Oh! Yes, he did."

The two scimitars were different from the rest of the weapons in the shop. Siegfried felt something about these swords. He could faintly feel some kind of aura emanating from the swords. Although weak, the aura was distinct. He knew what was wrong with these swords.

"May I speak to the forger?"

"Actually, he isn't here. He left recently on a trip. He said something about delivering a special sword. Is that right, Lynette?"

"Yeah, I think so. Hualin probably knows more, though." Lynette looked over the counter and into another room, "Hey, Hualin!"

From behind a sheeted door a young Chinese woman walked out, "Lynette, there's really no need to yell, you know."

Lynette smiled and stuck out her tongue, "Sorry. Do you know where Grandpa's gone?"

"No, he never really told me."

Siegfried was growing impatient, "If he's not here then you can't help me any longer. May I at least know his name?"

"His name is Cepheus," answered Valeria, "Lynette calls him Grandpa, but he's really not her grandfather. He is our teacher. He was kind enough to take us as his children after we all lost our parents."

"You're all orphans?"

"Well, not me." Hualin pushed up her small glasses, "I left home to become a blacksmith."

"So, would you like to buy these swords?" Valeria tapped Siegfried's shoulder and rested her chin on the back of her hand as she leaned on the counter.

"I have no money."

"That's too bad." Lynette's voice came from the side, and Siegfried looked down at her and saw her clinging on to his arm. "Well, it was nice to meet you. Hope we see you again."

"Yes." With that Siegfried left.

"He's cute." Lynette mused.

"Very good looking." Valeria added.

Outside the shop, Siegfried planned, _I have to get those swords. I don't have the money, but I have the skill…_

XOOOOOX

Rock was down at the tavern, Sophitia was taking a bath, and Siegfried and Cassandra sat in an uncomfortable silence. Cassandra sat in bed, watching as Siegfried put on his gauntlets.

"Where are you going?"

"Nowhere."

"Don't lie. What's wrong with you? You haven't talked to us in days." Cassandra tried to sound as warm as she could.

Siegfried stared down at his feet. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and noticed that she had a worried look in her eyes. Her gaze never left him. He sighed and took a seat beside her on the bed.

Once he was beside her, he noticed a change in her behavior. She suddenly began to nervously rub her legs together and now, after never taking her eyes off him, she seemed reluctant to even face him.

"Well? You did want to talk, didn't you?" Siegfried's tone was harsh.

Cassandra was genuinely hurt by his tone, "Siegfried! Why do you sound this way?" She looked angry, but he could see hear her voice cracking, "I'm just trying to help you. If something's on your mind, then maybe I can help ease it."

_Why is she acting like this? I can't believe it. Is this my fault?_

Cassandra adjusted herself on the bed and made some space in between them.

_Why am I feeling so frustrated? _Nightmare's image flashed before his eyes. _Of course…_

"Cassandra…I…didn't know you were worried about me. I'm sorry if I've troubled you. I've been very distressed lately. I suppose that after not having come across anything close to what we first set out for, I began to get tired." Siegfried didn't tell her the whole truth.

"Have we slowed you down?" Cassandra let out a relieved sigh and looked at him warmly.

Siegfried didn't want to trouble her any more than he already had; he himself had never upset a woman before, "No. I like your company. I imagine traveling alone would be very miserable."

She smiled and her bright attitude began to come back, "I'm glad to hear that. So you won't be leaving tonight, right?"

"Actually, I need to. It's a very important task that I need to do. We've come on this journey because of it, don't you remember?"

Cassandra gasped, "So you've found Soul Edge?"

"No, not exactly, but I've found something close."

"You're not going to fight anyone, are you?"

"No. At least, that's what I hope. The last thing I want to do is hurt anyone…"

"Then let me come with you. I can make sure you don't." She sounded very confident in herself.

"No, I can't let you come. If I get caught, then you'll be punished as well. And on top of that, I don't want someone as innocent as you to participate in a crime that I'm about to commit."

Cassandra giggled, "Oh Siegfried…You sound just like a knight!" She seemed to be teasing him now, "How chivalrous of you! To protect a girl like me from losing her innocence!" She reached for his hand and held it tight, "Trust me Siegfried, I can take care of myself. I won't be at a complete loss helping you."

"Sorry, I still can't let you. Like I said, you shouldn't be involved in this in any way."

Cassandra sighed, "Well, I obviously can't stop you from going, but you can't stop me either. I'm going with you no matter what!"

Siegfried smiled cleverly, "Then I'll wait until you're asleep."

Cassandra smiled back defiantly, "Then I'll stay up and watch you!"

"You'll never make it. I can stay up for days on end."

"Oh yeah?" She glared at him, but she couldn't help but smile and giggle.

Siegfried began to chuckle too.

They began to laugh together. Siegfried liked the feeling. He hadn't laughed for a long time, and it was nice to be sharing it with a girl like Cassandra.

"Hey, Siegfried, why don't we talk for a bit, huh? I'd really like to know more about you."

"I don't…"

"Oh come on. I'll start first…"

He began to listen closely. For a moment, he forgot all about Soul Edge and anything else as he talked with her. They simply enjoyed each other's company as they talked.

XOOOOOX

"Kilik, do you feel anything yet?" A young Chinese woman followed a young man carrying a large rod down the city streets.

"I do, Xianghua. It leads me this way."

The two made their way through the streets. Kilik clutched a necklace in his hand as he walked. _Please, show me the way…_

_-----_

Siegfried was cloaked. He had his zweihander hidden underneath his cloak. His eyes darted back and forth nervously. Paranoia seemed to be taking hold of him now as he received stares from the city folk.

_A bit obvious, I guess._

He pulled off the hood and continued on his way.

-----

"What is that noise?" A couple sat in bed, listening to a rumbling of some sorts and wondering what on earth it was.

"Could it be a bear?"

"No. What on earth would a bear be doing in a room?"

-----

Rock lay on the floor, fast asleep. His nostrils flared with every breath. His hand lazily crawled up to his belly where it scratched it just as lazily.

Sophitia slept peacefully like an angel, and Cassandra, sure enough, had fallen asleep before Siegfried

Rock began to stir. He sat up and cleared his fuzzy eyes.

_Hmm, I see Sophitia. I see Cassandra. Who's missing? Oh no! That little German rat!_

He swiftly got to his feet. He got up so quickly, in fact, that he stumbled and lost balance…

-----

The couple jumped and covered their heads as a loud thump and a big shaking shook their lanterns and rattled their nightstands. They could've sworn they saw their wall shake.

"My dear God!"

-----

Rock brushed the plaster of his head and tore out of the room in a huff. He didn't bother considering the other inn patrons as he shouted out loud, "Punk! I'll be damned if I let you get to it first!"

Cassandra mumbled in her sleep. The incredible ruckus that Rock had produced woke her out of her slumber. Unlike her sister, who was still in her dreamland, she was not a sound sleeper. _Sophitia could sleep through the Apocalypse_, Cassandra had always thought.

She looked for Siegfried, and she spotted him lying in a bundle on the floor. What she really saw, however, was nothing but a large bundle of blankets left behind in a mess by Rock. She promptly went back to sleep, believing that Siegfried had fallen asleep too.

_Ha! I knew he would fall asleep…_

_-----_

"Kilik! I hear gunshots!"

"I know, Xianghua! Hurry!"

The two Chinese rushed past the city folk towards the center of the city.

-----

Gunshots rang out again.

_Again! No... If those swords get into the wrong hands, there'll be trouble in this city!_

Siegfried held onto the hilt of Requiem tightly. He could sense that a fight over the two scimitars had broken out.

-----

Rock didn't care if he trampled over any innocents on his one man stampede through town in hunt of Siegfried.

He flew past the buildings. Not even a brick wall could've stopped him. He was as pumped as a bull, so it came as a surprise when a large figure rushed out from behind an alley and rammed him hard, knocking him more than a few feet away and onto his ass.

He looked at who had the tenacity and power to have dared do such a thing. He saw a large warrior with wood grain-like skin and a big stone mask. It carried a big axe which it slammed when it began to grumble and roar. "GRRRAAAHHH!"

Rock stood up. His blood was boiling. Every vein in his body pulsed with rage.

"DAMN YOU! RAAAGGGHHH! I'LL GRIND YOU INTO DUST!"

-----

"…Mmm, oh Siegfried not there…Oh no, it tickles…" Cassandra's sweet dream was interrupted by sounds scratching noises coming from her window and clicking from her door.

Outside, below her window were two assassins. They motioned to each other with signals, implying messages through them. The first signaled to the other.

_The rope's secure._

_Then we wait until he picks the lock._

In the hallway another assassin with a blood stained blade carefully picked open the door's lock. With a quiet click, he unlocked it. He waited calmly for just a few seconds, then opened the door a crack, and peaked in. He scanned the room, particularly the beds. He waited again before stealthily sneaking in.

Outside, the second assassin motioned with his hands to the first.

_He's in. Now. Slowly. _

_You have the one minute wait first then._

_Of course._

The lock-picking assassin stood silently at the foot of Sophitia's bed. His companion opened the window and climbed in. He was motioned to stand beside Cassandra's bed.

His eyes widened.

_She is not here._

_They are in the closet. I see their shadows._

Surely enough, very, very faint shadows could be seen, only with incredibly skilled eyes, though.

Suddenly, as expected by the assassins, the closet door swung open, and a hyped up Cassandra leapt out with sword and shield in hand. "Hyaa! I caught you!" She attempted to slam her shield down on one of their skulls, but the other assassin caught her in mid-air with a kick.

"Wait, where's the other?"

"Behind you!" Sophitia barged out of the bathroom, stabbing her sword into the lock-picker's shin.

He screamed in pain before being silenced by Sophitia.

Cassandra now had gotten back to her feet and rushed the second assassin. He backed away to the window, only to have Cassandra strike him with her shielded fist, sending him falling out the window and onto the cold hard ground. Cassandra looked down to the ground and saw the last assassin ascending the rope.

"Sis! There's one more!"

"Forget him! Let's leave, quick! We've been marked." Sophitia was quickly packing her belongings and ordered her younger sister to do so too.

After finishing gathering their belongings, the sisters hurried down the halls and down into the tavern. Everyone went about their business as usual, only giving quick glances at the fleeing sisters.

"Did they not notice the assassins around here?" Cassandra scanned the tavern, looking for Rock and Siegfried as she ran.

"Did you see the blood on one of their blades? I suspect the one that snuck into our room came in through another patron's room first."

"How about the last one I saw? Why was he late to come?"

"Probably to try to prevent what just happened. If we beat the other two, then maybe he could come up and catch us by surprise."

Cassandra smiled proudly, "Then good thing I spotted him, huh Sis?"

"Well, Cassandra…"

-----

"Ha ha! Too slow!"

Kilik and Xianghua came across a fiery red-headed youth holding two scimitars in the heat of combat. He seemed to have been battling a flying blur, but when he clashed blades with it, he revealed that he was actually in battle with none other than Cervantes.

"You're no match for me!" The youth shouted out into Cervantes's face.

Cervantes grinned, "Tell me idiot, do you like candy?"

Yunsung smirked arrogantly, "Yum yum! _I love candy_! But you know what I like most?" He paused for a moment, and he whispered, "…Chocolate…"

_Hm, smartass boy. _Cervantes began to chuckle, "Well, that is what your soul is like. It's a small snack but filled with sugar. My Soul Edge would like a little energy filled snack."

"Bring it then, _matey."_

"Are you mocking me?" Cervantes sliced at Yunsung.

Yunsung managed to leap above the attack, however, and he came down with a flashy attack that may have hit if he hadn't been so unique with the follow up.

Cervantes disappeared in a flash. Yunsung's head turned back and forth rapidly, looking for any signs of the pirate. Above him, Cervantes reappeared and came slicing down.

Yunsung saw it coming, but he couldn't react quickly enough. "Oh man!" He shut his eyes and raised his blades to block.

-----

Rock and the Berserker battled furiously. They destroyed much of the property nearby as each one of them delivered full force swings with their weapons, only to have them miss miserably as the other ducked or moved out of the way.

The Berserker lifted his axe high into the air and cut in down full power in a straight vertical attack.

Rock met the attack with his head. His head rang as his headgear clashed with the blade of the axe. He stumbled and held his head. When he recovered from the stunning shock of the impact, he slapped his head a few times to clear it up.

"No use trying to crack this skull!"

The Berserker cried out again and charged. He lifted his blade for another attack, but this time Rock caught the axe with his hand. He pushed it back after struggling for a moment. The stumbling Berserker had no time to recover before Rock swung. The incredible attack launched the Berserker away. It landed with a loud thud and an earth shaking slam.

It stopped breathing after a short moment. Rock watched confused as its body crumbled into dust.

-----

A sudden clang rang through his ears, but he didn't feel the impact, and he was sure that he was still alive. He opened one eye and saw that another man had stepped in to help.

It was Kilik. He blocked the blades with his rod. He stood there as Cervantes tried to cut through his Kali-Yuga.

Cervantes gritted his teeth, "Who the hell do you think you are!"

"You are pure evil. I will remove you from this world!" Kilik shouted out proudly.

"Oh really?" Cervantes disappeared again into the sky.

"What? Darn it!" Kilik scanned the skies. Suddenly, he felt weight on his shoulders.

"I got him!" Yunsung had leapt off of Kilik's shoulders and into the sky.

_Incredible! No normal human being could jump that high! _Xianghua watched in awe as Yunsung suddenly cut, sending sparks raining down from the sky. He axe kicked, hitting a lightning quick Cervantes and sending him rocketing to the ground below.

Cervantes's face slammed into the ground. He wiped the dirt from his face and growled at Yunsung, who now stood confidently before him, still holding the two scimitars.

Yunsung looked at the palms of his hands, which were now red, "Ooo, tingly! I like these swords! They're a hell of a lot better than that lame sword Master gave me. Totally worth it!"

_How can those two swords make him so strong! They may have Soul Edge's power, but that shouldn't be enough to do this! _Cervantes seethed before he stood back up. "Boy! Where did you find those blades? Tell me!"

Yunsung raised his eyebrow and looked at Cervantes suspiciously, "I'd tell you, but it won't make a difference, you know. And I need to save my breath for the ladies…"

"Good lad! I like your confidence, but I'll hang you for your lack of respect!" Cervantes prepared for another attack, but before he did he glared at Kilik, "And you, you accuse me of being evil…well, I see evil in you too. I hate hypocrites. It's why I became a pirate in the first place.

"A government that claims it is for the well being of the people, but let's its soldiers die at sea. When I take a chokehold upon this world, I will not tell a lie…I will declare a mass murder, and I will take it upon myself to see to it! Rivers will flow with blood!" At that he flew off like a torpedo, flames trailing behind him.

Yunsung looked on at the fast approaching Cervantes. He raised his blades to ready for an attack.

Cervantes impacted with Yunsung. Flames scattered and metal flew as swords shattered. When the flames subsided, only one fighter stood.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Oh no…" Xianghua was shocked to see Cervantes still standing, a triumphant smile across his face.

"He won…" Kilik prepared to fight.

Yunsung's scimitars were shattered, and now Cervantes's Soul Edge was absorbing the aura that was radiating from the broken swords. Yunsung himself was out cold.

"Stupid boy. I knew that the blades could no longer hold up. Soul Edge's power was slipping away."

Kilik watched angrily. "Now fight me! Demon!"

"Be patient. I'll get to you soon. I promise." Cervantes pointed Nirvana at him.

While he stood absorbing the energy, his eyes made out a single figure running towards the scene, not away.

"Ahh, another one."

Siegfried stopped just a few feet short from the pirate, and he could see the surprised look that came over his eyes.

"Dread Pirate! Didn't I already kill you, spectre?" He pulled out Requiem and pointed it at Cervantes.

"The Child of the Evil Sword…I still remember you…Your insane eyes…I'll make you regret stealing Soul Edge from me!" He shot at Siegfried.

Siegfried quickly reacted by blocking the bullet with the broadside of his sword.

Just when the bullet ricocheted, Rock ran into the scene.

"Siegfried!"

He picked up Siegfried by the collar and shook him in the air, "Punk! Where's the Soul Edge!"

"Rock! Relax! If you want to know who has the sword, then look at him!" He pointed at Cervantes with his free hand as the other was holding onto Rock's choking hands.

Rock stared at the pirate. Siegfried watched as his eyes lit up with realization…

XOOOOOX

"Mother! Father! Come look! I see land!" A young Nathaniel stood at the side of the boat, awing as it neared land slowly.

A big man and a woman strolled out on deck to see.

"Yes, I see Nathaniel. That is the New World." Nathaniel's father was big. Not as big as Rock is as an adult, but quite big nonetheless.

"When will we land, Papa? I can't wait!"

"Ho ho!" He ruffled little Nathaniel's hair and chuckled loudly, "Just a day or so. We have to get to port first before we land."

The sound of cannon fire shook the boat. Nathaniel gasped at the sudden boom.

"Boats! Pirate boats!" Distant voices called out.

On the boat the pirates and their captain laughed out loud boisterously.

"Raise the Jolly Roger, men! Let's send them to the bottom of the sea! But not before we take everything for ourselves, of course!"

They raised their sails and the wind took their boat across the water. Soon their boats were side by side.

Nathaniel looked on in shock as his eyes crossed with the captain's. Cold, greedy, heartless eyes.

The captain of the boat smiled, "Ahoy, Lad! Good night, isn't it? Good for a swim, perhaps?"

Young Nathaniel stepped back nervously. The Spanish pirate captain pointed at the bystanders on the boat, ordering his archers to fire.

Arrows rained down onto the boat. Nathaniel crouched and covered his head, too afraid to move. The arrows landed on the boat with several thuds. Nathaniel did not forget to listen to the screams of the passengers as they were pierced by the arrows.

He turned his head frantically to find his mother.

"Oh no!"

There, no more than ten or so feet beside him, was his father, covering his mother's body with his own. Arrows filled his back.

"No! No! Mother!" He ran to his mother and struggled to lift his father's body off her. He found his mother crying. "Is…is Father dead?" Rock began to sob as well.

The pirates began to toss ropes and drop boards, ready to cross over the sea and onto the civilian boat.

Rock did not see them coming, and so was met by the captain's boot in the side of his head.

After shaking away his grogginess he watched as the captain picked up his mother in his arms. He planted a rough kiss on her and then slit her throat.

"No! Stop!"

It was too late. The captain slung her lifeless body overboard and into the dark sea.

"You bastard!" Nathaniel forced himself onto his feet, but one of the thugs booted him, sending him stumbling into the railing. The thug came up to him and booted him again in the face, sending him flipping over the rail and plunging into the water.

"Ha! Damn English boy! Teach you to speak to us like that!" The thug felt a hand being placed on his shoulder.

"Relax. Let me take it from here." The captain aimed his pistol into the sea and fired. A total of five shots went in.

"Did you get 'em, captain?"

"No. The boy's too deep under." He began to holler out orders, "All of you rats! Hurry and finish! I don't want to spend another second with these types."

"Aye, captain!"

Nathaniel felt pressure on his chest. He then felt breath being forced into him. He coughed and felt water coming up. He finished coughing up water and opened his eyes. He looked into the kind face of a native woman, but even as he looked into her serene eyes, he only saw the face of the pirate captain who had killed his family.

XOOOOOX

"It's…it's…you!" Rock tossed Siegfried aside and rushed Cervantes.

Cervantes disappeared before Rock could swing. His voice could still be heard even though his body was no where to be seen. "You all seem to have a bone to pick with me. I would love to fight you, Child of the Evil Sword…how I would love to make you pay for cursing me with such a bothersome body…but this wouldn't be a fair fight. I wouldn't be able to direct all my attention on killing you!"

"Shut up and fight, pirate! Rock slammed his mace.

"Show yourself, spectre! I won't let you get away with Soul Edge!" Siegfried yelled.

Cervantes spoke on, "Since you are all looking for a fight, then you will receive one. When morning comes, a battalion of my servants will march into this city."

"Why not fight us now!"

"Child of the Evil Sword, you are eager to destroy Soul Edge once and for all, aren't you?"

"Yours is the only one left, spectre! Time to be rid of Soul Edge now!"

"Why are you so desperate to destroy the sword? Is it because it gives you…Nightmares?"

_Nightmare…_

"You know, don't you? It's still not over. And when the end comes, you will not be victor."

Kilik felt the gem on his necklace radiate energy. It began to glow. His eyes were directed to Siegfried. _The way he holds his sword…it's just like his. And the sword itself is the same type…_

Xianghua diverted her eyes to Siegfried too after hearing Cervantes talk to him.

"…"

"Will you defeat us? Probably not. Will you even survive this attack? Will you even fight, or will you chase after me and leave this city to defend itself? Mwah ha! This is like a game! Just in case you decide, I'll tell you that I'll be waiting for you in the Mediterranean Sea. Just find yourself a boat, unless you can walk on water."

Kilik felt Cervantes completely disappear. Everything became silent.

"Nooo! Arr! Damn it!" Rock dropped to his knees and began pounding the ground, seemingly out of frustration. Then, without warning, he struck at Siegfried. "He wants to fight you…what a joke! He's mine, you hear me! My ass he's going to run to fight _you _another day!"

Siegfried, frustrated himself, raised his blade against Rock and yelled, "Damn you, you dog! You're part of this problem. Maybe if you hadn't barged up and opened your goddamn mouth, maybe he wouldn't have taken off, and I could've killed him for both myself and you, for whatever reason you have for wanting him dead." Siegfried paused briefly, "Why is it that whenever you open your mouth, you make yourself out to be a low class fool!"

"What!" Rock raised his mace and threatened to crush Siegfried, while Siegfried held his blade in a manner ready to impale.

"Stop! Enough you two." Before the two could kill each other, a red flash stopped in between them, stopping them from moving any further. It was Kilik, staff raised against the bigger of the two.

"No more arguing. You heard him. This town is to be attacked by morning, and we'll need all the help we can if we are to survive. Will you two help?"

Rock scoffed, "Why should I care what happens to this city. I won't be here for any longer, anyways."

Siegfried sneered.

Kilik somehow noticed, "And you. Won't you fight? Haven't enough people died due to your fault already?"

Siegfried gasped, "What? You know…But how did you?"

When he looked into Kilik's eyes, then at his weapon, a rush of memories swept back to him. _That's how he knew…_

Siegfried let down Requiem and turned his gaze to the ground.

Rock was less willing to put down his weapon, but Kilik could see that he had calmed down and was now in a more reasonable state of mind.

"Good. Now we wait until sunrise. The battalion will be coming from the West. I can feel them already approaching."

XOOOOOX

"And who are you guys to bumrush my fight?" Yunsung sat on the ground as Xianghua rubbed ointment on his wounds. He winced as she rubbed some on the large gash across his forearm, "Ow, hey, be gentle there, cutie." He winked and grinned.

A disgusted look came across Xianghua's face, "Ugh…Hey Kilik! Can't I be finished yet? This kid looks fine to me!"

"No Xianghua. We need everyone at their best."

_Kid! Man, come on! She called me a kid!_

Meanwhile, Rock and Siegfried sat on barrels, waiting for the time to come.

"Rock."

"What?"

"Where are Cassandra and Sophitia?"

"The last time I saw them they were still asleep."

Xianghua called out to Kilik again, "We can't just let the townspeople stay here. I doubt we'll be able to hold off the attackers. We should try to have them evacuate."

"You're right," Kilik smiled, "If anyone should do that, it should be you. You'll fit the job perfectly, Xianghua."

Xianghua stood up and placed her fists on her hips, "Now what are you trying to say? Are you saying I'm loud, Kilik?"

Kilik only kept on smiling.

"Hm!" Xianghua turned her head away and stuck her nose in the air. She couldn't hide her smile, though.

"Wouldn't that be a lot of people to evacuate in time?" Siegfried asked.

"We have to try at least." She answered.

"Then go on. You'll have a lot of work ahead of you."

Xianghua pouted and went off on her way.

Siegfried turned his attention to Yunsung, "And you. You got those two swords from the weapons shop with the three girls, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"You need to go borrow a weapon from them. You're going to help us fight. Tell them that Siegfried sent you, and that he needs this favor."

"Hah! Yeah right! This is your problem! I only fought that pirate guy because he started it. And I don't take crap like that."

"You do know that thanks to you, that sword of his is even stronger now, right?"

Yunsung blew him off, "Ha, right," he stood up and walked off, waving a hand at the others, "I think I will go get my old sword back…but whether I come back to help or not…Ehh, I'll think about it."

"That punk…"

Little more than an hour passed before two women showed up to the scene.

"Cassandra, Sophitia."

"Siegfried, what happened?"

Siegfried walked up to them and looked into their eyes, searching for any signs of fatigue or tiredness in them. "Did you bring your weapons?"

Cassandra raised an eyebrow and nodded. She pulled out her shield and sword and showed them to him, "Yeah, see?"

Sophitia looked at Rock, who was still sitting on his barrel and then at the scattered fragments of metal. "Siegfried, is something going to happen tonight?"

"Not tonight, but in the morning. We're up against an entire battalion at sunrise. Think you're up to it?"

Sophitia nodded, "The gods will guide me."

"How about you, Cassandra?"

Cassandra nodded and smiled confidently, "Of course!" _Yess! A chance to show Siegfried what I'm really made of!_

Xianghua ran through town, yelling and shouting at the top of her lungs, "Everyone! Wake up! An army marches into town at sunrise! Find safety! By morning an army will invade! Find safety!" But she did not know whether her warnings had been heeded, or if they had fallen on deaf ears.

Half an hour passed.

"Well! Look who's back!" Yunsung returned with three women in tow. "And look at the pretty ladies I brought back!" He looked at Siegfried and grinned mischieviously, "How 'bout you, 'eh? I see you eyeing them!"

A bashful Lynette waved timidly.

"Why did you bring them?"

"We can fight with you too!" Lynette happily chimed in.

"We're not helpless women, you know." Valeria added herself, "I'm quite deadly with blades myself, Siegfried."

Siegfried looked at the women's weapons: a staff for Hualin, a pair of metallic tambourines for Lynette, and Valeria seemed to be wearing a pair of bladed sandals.

"So you're going to fight. Women like you should not be getting in the way of men's fights." Rock gave his opinion.

"We all have some usefulness in a situation like this, Englishman," Kilik defended the women's pride, "I learned that everyone is strong, especially women. And Xianghua…"

"Hey! I'm back guys! And look at the army I arranged!" Xianghua returned. Behind her fairly sized band of warriors followed. They carried scimitars and katars and other weapons native to the Middle East.

"And the others, Xianghua? Did you get them to safety?"

"Don't you worry, Kilik. They'll be fine. We'll take care of these invaders!"

"How like you, Xianghua. You're always so upbeat, aren't you?"

"Hee!" Xianghua stuck her tongue out and rubbed the back of her head bashfully.

Cassandra counted up the newcomers, "…Fifty-nine, sixty. Wow! I feel a lot more confident now with all these guys here!"

"I thought you were hyped up and ready, little sister." Sophitia grinned, despite some nervousness building inside of her. She could feel something wasn't going to be right.

"I am. It's just that maybe now not so many of those filthy invaders will team up on little old me." Cassandra smirked arrogantly, and then added, "And besides, I'm only going to let one man lay his hands on my body."

Sophitia couldn't help but look towards Siegfried, whom Cassandra was gazing at as well.

Siegfried caught them staring, and raised a questioning eyebrow. Sophitia quickly looked away in shame while Cassandra smiled and winked. She loved how Siegfried looked away shyly. _I'm going to amaze him._

XOOOOOX

The morning hours came as if they were only minutes. The waiting warriors were now anxious, prepared to face a marching battalion at a moments notice. They peered towards the horizon, and they saw the approaching attackers. However, they waited patiently yet nervously.

They were now within sight.

**Author's Notes: Well, what do you think? Personally, I think this was one of the more boring and uninteresting chapters. I guess I was rambling a bit. Sorry for that. I guess I got writer's block or something. I promise I'll put more thought into next chapters. Oh, and please leave a review. Thanks! (And by the way, for those who like my writing, please read and review my other story: Yoshimitsu, the Onimusha, and the Genma Lord. I'd appreciate it!)**


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Author's notes: Thanks to Lightning Samurai, Hawki, and G. Reaper for reviewing the last chapter. And, of course, a thanks to everyone who has read this story at all. **

"What the hell are those?" Yunsung squinted his eyes and focused on the soldiers marching into the slowly waking town.

"Lizardmen! Westeners by the look of 'em!" Rock spat.

Sophitia gasped, "Lizardmen? I knew something was wrong."

"Rock, you said they are 'Westerners'. What do you mean?" Siegfried knew the Lizardmen too, but he did not know that they were 'Westerners'.

"I mean exactly that! They are Westerners! There are two types of Lizardmen. These are Westerners."

"How can you tell the difference?"

"Because, little Cassandra, they look different. These Lizardmen are the more common type. They look like overgrown reptiles, and their build is rather simple. These types are Westerners. Easterners are much different. They are plated with thick armor on their backs and the tops of their heads. Their armor is lined with spikes, and they have clubbed tails."

"So these originate from the West?"

"No. Not exactly. All Lizardmen originate from the east, mainly the Mediterranean. Some just migrated to the west."

Siegfried adjusted his armor, readying for a fight, "Is there any difference in the way they combat? That is the only thing that matters at the moment."

"Westerners are less violent and vicious than Easteners, but they are quicker due to their lack of plated armor holding them down."

"And how do you know so much?"

"Because I live to kill Lizardmen," finished Rock.

The Lizardmen growled and snarled as they marched. Their stench attracted many flies. The beasts did not bother with the insects. Their sights were set on the city ahead of them, flies buzzing and landing on their eyes and snouts the entire way.

"Do you smell that?" Xianghua fanned away the stench from her nostrils.

Siegfried snorted, "That's horrible…"

"Well, you shouldn't expect oversized reptiles to smell like daffodils, Siegfried." Cassandra responded.

"There's the city, worms! Forget the march! Stampede and trample everything in your way!" None other than the unholy golem, Astaroth led the army.

The Lizardmen roared and screeched, taking off on an uncontrollable rampage. They kicked up dirt and rubble as they recklessly took off, leaving Astaroth behind in a cloud of dust.

Back in the city Rock and the others prepared to meet the attack.

"NOW! We can't give them any chance to gain ground in this city!" Rock acted as general and commanded his troops to charge.

Rock, Siegfried, and Kilik were at the front of the line. The two battalions met with uncontrollable fury. Where Rock struck, Lizardmen flew. Where Siegfried cut through, blood splattered and bodies were sliced in two.

But even though a handful of Lizardmen had already fallen, their bloodthirsty attack wasn't to be held back so easily. They leapt and bound through, growling and roaring, causing some of the defenders to lose their steel.

Grouped together were a few city folk, their weapons raised in fear. The Lizardmen slashed their blades furiously, slicing the fighters' flesh and spilling their blood. The smell of blood excited the other Lizardmen, who immediately began to bite down upon their enemies.

Xianghua faced one of the beasts who had smelled the blood. It opened its jaws, revealing its sharp, plentiful teeth dripping with hungry saliva. Xianghua tried to cut at its head, but the lizard ducked its head low. It came back up and headbutted Xianghua's blade out of her hands. Her sword went flying into the confusion of the battlefield. The lizard kicked her in the stomach, its claws scratching through her shirt and her skin.

"Ahh!" She fell to her hands and knees. With one hand, she held her abdomen. "Kilik! Help!"

Kilik heard her cry and rushed to help. He made it just before the Lizardman took a bite out of her. He swung his staff and hit the lizard in the side of its neck. The lizard went flying off to the side and tumbled along the ground. "Xianghua…"

Siegfried was surrounded. He blocked and parried the blades of his attackers. One after one of the lizards would lunge in for a bite, but Siegfried sidestepped them. His armor was covered with scratches. Another one lunged in. This time, however, Siegfried reacted violently. He took off its head. The other Lizardmen seemed to gasp in surprise, but only for the smallest instant. They all leapt in.

Cassandra had stayed near Siegfried. She saw how he was surrounded, and now she saw them all lunge in on him, but she couldn't do anything to help. She had her hands full as well. It seemed as if all the fiercer lizards had targeted her.

"Siegfried!" In a sudden desperate effort, she ran through the Lizardmen, slashing her blade as furiously and as wildly as the lizards themselves.

"Not yet!" Siegfried swung Requiem. His attack repelled the lizards. They all fell in a heap. Their pained cries caught the attention of more.

"You will not beat me!" Siegfried readied himself for more, but a blue blur crossed his vision. He saw it attack the Lizardmen furiously stabbing and stabbing over again, "Cassandra?"

"Yah! Yah!" Cassandra leapt into the air. She came down and planted her sword into a lizard's back.

Siegfried watched quite impressed as he observed how Cassandra flipped and somersaulted, kicking and slashing away at her foes. To him, her fighting style was like a fast, energetic dance. "Incredible…she has great talent…"

Lynette, Valeria, and Hualin did their share. Their natural talent with handling weapons gave them an edge. Lynette's graceful dance of a fighting style helped her swiftly dodge and strike. Valeria's talented feet and knowledge of martial arts perfectly complemented her bladed sandals. Hualin's natural knowledge with Chinese martial arts also gave her an advantage.

"Hualin! Look out!" Lynette pointed out a line of Lizardmen charging Hualin.

"No problem!" She lifted her staff and pointed it at the incoming line of lizards, "Extend!" On her command, her staff extended and hit the Lizardmen, pushing them back across the battlefield.

"Return!" The staff returned to its normal size. She ran up to the fallen Lizardmen and jumped into the air with her staff raised high above her head. "Enlarge!" Her staff grew in width. It became the width of a small tree. Hualin displayed great physical strength in holding up the large staff, but soon she let the weight fall. She slammed the staff onto the laid out Lizardmen, splattering them along the ground. "Got it!"

The battle raged on until finally, Rock, the acting general, took full responsibility of the battle. He went into a berserk rage, swinging and punching and stomping the Lizardmen into bloody pools. He shoved everyone out of his way. He tossed Siegfried off to the side. He grunted and that enough was enough to get the women out of his way. He had grown tired of the lizards, and now their numbers were diminishing quickly at his hands.

Finally finishing his job, Rock dropped his mace and began huffing for air. He had killed the remainder of the Lizardmen. Everyone was exhausted: Yunsung lay sprawled out on the ground, Sophitia sat on the ground, looking in horror at the handful of dead men, Kilik was tending to Xianghua's wounds, and Siegfried and Cassandra were checking on each other's health.

The aftermath was bloody. Bodies of Lizardmen were strewn all about. The flies were still hovering over them, just as they had when they were still alive.

XOOOOOX

"So now what?"

The band of warriors rested inside a nearby tavern. Yunsung had headed off and the shopgirls had gone back home.

The tavern was empty due to the town recovering from the shock of being attacked by a horde of monsters. The group spoke in whispers, afraid to give out any secrets to the cause of the attack.

"I'm heading south after that pirate." Rock popped his neck and stretched.

"South…to the Mediterranean…Greece…" Sophitia said to herself.

However, Cassandra overheard, "Sophitia, do you…miss home?"

"I do." Sophitia's gaze was set on the tabletop in front of her, "Cassandra. Let's go home, please. Our family must be worried sick."

"But what about Soul Edge?"

"Cassandra! I'm tired. I haven't seen my husband and children for so long. I miss them terribly. I want to go home. And besides," she looked at the other warriors before her, "It's in good hands. I'm sure that even without us, things will end fine."

"No, Sophitia. Tell me, older sister, why did you leave home again in the first place? I know you did not receive an oracle this time around."

"I wanted to destroy Soul Edge once and for all. But can't you see that it will? You must have faith in Siegfried and the others who are on their own quest to destroy the blade."

"No, that isn't enough for me, Sophitia. Don't you want to be there when it happens? Don't you want to be assured that they truly destroyed it? Can you really live on happily not knowing for sure whether Soul Edge was destroyed or not? What if they failed?" The moment Cassandra said that, she regretted it. A dismal feeling came over the group.

Cassandra spoke again, "I know that I'll keep on going, Sophitia."

"Cassandra."

"Huh?" She looked at Siegfried who had stood up and was now strapping Requiem onto his back.

"You should go back with Sophitia…"

"But Siegfried…"

"…But I know I can't stop a stubborn girl like you. Do what you want. Just be careful."

Cassandra was surprised to hear him say this, but at the same time she was pleased to know that he was willing to let her choose for herself. "Where will you be going, Siegfried?

"I'm going west."

"So we're splitting up?"

"Yes. I'm actually leaving now."

"Wait. Not yet, please? I want to go with you, but…Sophitia…"

Sophitia sighed, "Cassandra…I couldn't live with myself if you were hurt, much less killed. I'm coming with you, so I can take care of you, too."

Cassandra smiled warmly and embraced her sister, "Thanks, Sis."

"So I guess I'm off on my own?" Rock scratched his chin.

"Sorry, Rock."

"That's fine. Siegfried would only slow me down and screw everything up for me." Rock got up and stretched his arms, then left the tavern. He said one last thing, "Hope we meet again!"

"He's gone…" Siegfried sighed, almost sadly, but then he turned to Kilik and Xianghua, "What do you two plan to do?"

"We'll stay and rest for a while, until her wounds feel better, then I suppose we'll follow the pirate as well."

"Goodbye then."

"Yes…And good luck to you…" Kilik looked Siegfried in the eyes, "…And have a nice life."

Siegfried, Cassandra, and Sophitia trudged through the empty streets of the city, looking onward towards the western horizon, but little did they know that waiting ahead of them was a golem, ready to break them at any moment.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**Author's notes: Thanks go to Hawki and notfromearth7 for reviewing Chapter 14. Here's Chapter 15. I think this has been one of my better chapters lately. But it doesn't matter what I think, it matters what the readers think, so tell me, what d'ya think? **

The smell of old fabric and ointments filled the chamber as Abyss opened an old sarcophagus of some old pharaoh of ancient times. Dust exploded out of the open sarcophagus and spewed into the room. Miser and Greed coughed uncontrollably.

"These old mummies still have some spirit in them. They are a small source of energy but they give me a feeling of older age and even more knowledge…"

Greed's whooping cough finally subsided, "Abyss, why did you bring us down here? Just to tell us that?"

"No. You have things to do," Abyss turned his glowing golden eye to Miser, giving her the chills, "Miser, could you go and ready a boat for the White Giant. He is not God, he cannot walk on water. He will need a boat and captain if he is to meet the pirate."

"And where would I get a boat?"

"You will come up with one, I know."

"Now Abyss, why can't I be the one to do the sailing? I wouldn't mind meeting this pirate myself." Greed fixed his monocle which had fallen out of place due to his violent coughing, "It would be interesting to meet the infamous pirate himself."

"Because I know that our bullheaded puppet would certainly mistake you for the pirate. You do bear such a striking resemblance. He would attack you."

"And do you doubt my abilities?"

Abyss laughed and filled the room with his grand voice, "No, not at all, Greed. You would silence him," as he spoke, Abyss raised his scythe to the mummy and drove it into its chest, "The problem is, if you kill the White Giant, then you would have to confront the pirate directly face-to-face, and I am sure it is much easier to kill one when you catch them off guard. The pirate would not be expecting the escort to strike, but he is expecting his opponent to show up and strike. Do you understand?"

Greed huffed, "Suppose so…"

"Good. Now I have another job for you, Greed…" The dark chamber lit up with a purple glow as the mummy's remaining spirit was drained and flowed into Abyss's ethereal heart.

XOOOOOX

"Ares…" The gigantic golem clenched his fist in anger as he thought back, "Why did you stop me? I could've crushed those insects! Damn you…"

Astaroth was forced to watch as his Lizardmen soldiers rushed into battle. Ironically, Ares, the god of war, had held back the golem from battle. Ares had known what would have happened had Astaroth participated, and Ares was not willing to lose his useful servant. Now Astaroth stood regretting obeying his god.

"Forget it then! I'll crush the Innocent Darkside when I see him walk down this road!" Astaroth began to chuckle heartily.

"I can't let you do that."

"What!" Astaroth turned to face the one who had spoken to him, "What did you say, old man?"

Greed took a puff from his pipe, "Oh? Did your creators forget to give you ears? I said I can't let you kill him. He is too valuable. If he is killed then my plans will all fall apart."

"And what can an old, decrepit fool like you do? I'll speed up time and grind your bones into dust for you! Ha ha!" Astaroth lifted his axe and charged Greed.

Greed sidestepped quickly and then leapt into the air, pulling his kunai out at the same time. Astaroth quickly whipped around and slammed the broadside of his axe into Greed's side, swatting him away like a fly and knocking his pipe out of his mouth. Greed landed in a heap and whooped out a cough.

"Ha ha! Told you, worm!" Astaroth jumped incredibly high into the air for his size and came down with his axe full force.

Greed rolled out of the way and left Astaroth to slam his axe into the ground, leaving a large fissure.

Greed began to run circles around Astaroth, he began slicing quickly at the golem. His cuts drew not blood, but a dark liquid. Astaroth began to block all the attacks soon enough, however, with the handle of his axe. The strikes left scratches on the wooden handle one by one.

Tired of the old man, Astaroth thrust the large handle against Greed's chest and pushed him upwards. Greed momentarily caught some air before he landed back on the handle like a towel on a towel rack. Still trying to catch his air, Astaroth began running with his prone body slung across his axe. He charged at a large, dead tree.

_He's trying to break my back! _Greed forced himself to move and flipped over Astaroth's shoulder's just before he slammed his axe handle on the tree. The impact knocked the entire tree over. _Now's my chance!_

Greed ran at the golem and leapt onto his back, latching on like a child would latch on to his father. He wrapped on arm around the golem's neck and with his other he quickly pulled out a crystal blue stone from his pouch.

"Ugh, Ah! Get off of me!" Astaroth struggled to fling the old man's body off of his back, but soon he felt a searing pain in his side. "Graaah!"

Greed grinned, "How do you like it? It's a Holy Stone. It will destroy any type of evil, even heretic golems!

The stone began to burn at the golem's body, crumbling his side into dust.

"Now let me show you my weapons." Greed flashed one regular kunai in front of Astaroth's face, "This is Austere," then he held his other kunai, which was split down the middle, in front of the struggling golem, giving him a good look, "And this one is Void. Let me show you what Void can do!"

He took Void and sliced at the air to the side of them. Astaroth could make out a small slit of black. It looked empty. His eyes widened in fear, rare in Astaroth's occasion, "No! Not the Void!"

"Yes! And you go in there!" Greed leapt off the golem. The Holy Stone was imbedded into his side now. The pain was too much for Astaroth to bear. After the hole in the fabric of this dimension widened, Greed took advantage of the golem's distress and ran towards him and dropkicked him, sending him tumbling into the Void. Astaroth's faint yelling could still be heard.

"Foolish doll." Greed approached the portal and with his two kunai mended it shut. "I suppose I should thank Abyss. I could've never done that without his help," He stared at Void, gazing at his reflection.

He walked over to his pipe and picked it up. He brushed off the dust and poured in a bit of crushed tobacco and lit it. He took a big puff and blew smoke rings into the air, "Perfect."

He heard the sound of steel boots. He looked down from his smoke and found Siegfried and his companions running down the path.

"Is everything okay? I heard sound of fighting."

Greed smiled kindly, "Really? I didn't hear a thing! Oh my, my old age really has gotten to me, not being able to hear even a battle and all…But no, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Siegfried observed the background.

"Yes yes. Don't you worry about me, boy. You go on your way. It looks like you have pressing business. Don't want to foul it up now, right?"

"Yes, you're right. Let's go." He began to walk off as Sophitia followed.

Cassandra turned to Greed, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, sweet girl. Don't mind your cute head about it."

"Okay."

"Oh! And by the way!"

Siegfried stopped and turned back around to look at Greed.

"You have a nice couple of cute hunnies there with you. Take care of them! Don't want anything bad to happen to them, right? Just a bit of elderly advice!"

"Of course." They left off on their way.

_How odd…that fissure along the ground…and that tree…There was no battle?_

"He was very kind, don't you think, Sophitia? He reminds me of Grandpa, funny."

"Grandpa was always your favorite, huh Cassie?"

"Yup."

Back behind them, Greed chuckled. "Ohh…how young people always believe us elderly to be senile."

XOOOOOX

"Ahhh…I see it. The next Holy Stone…" Abyss's eternal eye glowed with revelation, "It is not in the physical form. I will find it myself."

Abyss made his way out of the old tomb, stepping foot into the outside world after such a long time. What will follow during his visitation?


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**Author's notes: Thanks for reviewing my last chapter Abe! And you too TheDarkSpirit182! And if you would like to suggest things for my story, feel free. If I like your ideas then I'll incorporate them into my story.**

**Well, here's chapter 16. This may be a bit of a disappointment for many Soul Calibur fans, but I'm going to add Necrid to this story. I know how much he's hated by fans, but personally I don't mind him. But don't worry too much! It's not as if he's going to be a major character. It's obvious he'll be killed in this story sometime…but just not yet. **

Winds whipped and blew with such incredible force that Abyss had to steady himself mid-flight. The winds were abnormally violent. It picked up walls of sand and blasted anything in its path. It was as if the world had sensed Abyss's return to the outside world.

Abyss was silent throughout his trek through the Egyptian desert skies. His gaze was fixated on a patch of green vegetation out in the distance. The sandstorm punished the lush oasis in the desert, but the trees and plants held their ground. Abyss came into reach of the oasis and landed carefully. He knew this was the place. It felt uncomfortable here to him.

He looked into the sand-covered skies and clicked his teeth together, "It is here, I know it…though not in physical form." As he pondered on where the Holy Stone's essence lingered, Abyss noticed a small rustling in a small plant by his foot. He looked down to find a small lizard scrounging in the dirt and plant for food.

"What is this? A creature as small as this not affected by these winds? That is not right…" He looked back up again and focused.

"Of course. This oasis…it is a form of a Holy Stone. Ahhh…It protects its inhabitants from such violent weather. I was fortunate that the Holy Stone's essence was not as concentrated as it would have been…or I would have…" The thought angered him. He raised his scythe and began to chop at the plants angrily, using his scythe like a farm implement.

"To think, I could have met my fate here and now!" He prepared to destroy it all with one enormous attack, but there was another creature in his presence. This one was different, big, dangerous.

A sound like a distorted, guttural voice came from behind Abyss. To a normal human, it would've sounded like nothing but nonsense, but Abyss understood it perfectly, "So this is your territory?"

The being answered.

"Odd you say that. A grotesque beast with tainted blood like yours should not feel at home here." He rose up his scythe and a surge of electricity charged it, sending dozens of lighting bolts flying from it. The bolts of electricity struck and dragged across the ground, tearing apart the plant life and charring the ground.

The attack forced the monster out of it's hiding, and out of nowhere it pounced on Abyss. With such incredible strength, the monster knocked Abyss to the ground. It then proceeded to pound on Abyss, trying to shatter his bones. It struck with one enormous claw, and with its more normal hand, reached for the ethereal orb glowing in Abyss's chest.

"Fool!" As the monster's hand neared the orb, an invisible explosion of energy blasted from it, propelling the monster off of Abyss.

Abyss quickly got onto his feet and glided towards the monster. He scooped it up with his scythe and threw the monster into the sky. Then he pointed up at it and a bolt of lightning shot from his finger. As the lightning struck the beast, it let out an inhuman and horrible scream. It fell back to the ground in a smoldering heap.

Abyss approached the monster's prone body and examined it. He couldn't help but gaze into the large crystal orb placed on its chest. It showed the fires of another realm, and the longer Abyss looked into it, the more he could see.

His mind wandered and traveled into another time. He found himself kneeling before a king. Beside the king was his son, a young, turquoise haired man with golden eyes. The king himself had long, silver hair and the same golden eyes.

They were inside a large, beautiful temple of sorts. In the center was a large and gorgeous fountain with a statue of a golden Pegasus mounted in the middle of it.

The king waved away his servants, except the one Abyss was seeing through. The servant approached the king. The king stood as the servant bowed again. The king had in his hands an object wrapped in cloth. The servant took it and unwrapped it. As Abyss saw what was in the servant's hands, he gasped. It was Soul Calibur. The original Soul Calibur. The servant was dismissed and led out of the temple by the prince. He took him to the front of the temple.

As Abyss looked on through the servant's eyes, he found that he was standing atop a grand structure. Hundreds of stairs were laid at the base in front of the temple. He looked into the distance and found that the temple was on an island surrounded all around by ocean.

Then Abyss saw a shadowy figure standing at the base of the stairs. It was fading and wavy. The more Abyss looked at the figure, the more Abyss began to feel aware of himself, as if he was there at the temple himself. It seemed then that the time shifted. The ocean vista changed into a thick, dark forest, and the prince who was by his side faded away.

Then it all clarified. His past vision faded away and now he was seeing in the present. In front of the temple was an old man dragging a large, brown sack behind him. Whoever this was, he had found the temple in which the king and the prince had stood in the past. Abyss noticed movement in the thick woods behind the elderly man. A pale, skinny creature crawled out of the brush. "It cannot be…No, it is! Ha ha! Voldo has found the Soul Embrace!"

Abyss snapped back to reality and laughed, "Yes! That old man somehow stole the blade from the Innocent Darkside. Well, Voldo is right there, ready to fulfill his duty! Ha ha!"

Abyss looked back down at the monster laid out before him. "The orb on this beast can see into different times and different places…He will have some use to me…"

XOOOOOX

Voldo had been on the trail of the Soul Embrace for several weeks now. He followed its scent from the day he first sniffed it passing by while sleeping in a hollow tree trunk in northern Italy. He was careful not to make himself known, which was easy for a silent killer like him. He had waited for the perfect time. But he took too long. It was now or never.

Voldo slinked out of the bushes and crawled slowly and silently towards the brown sack. His nose twitched with every whiff he took. He was within feet of the sack until the old man stopped and looked back.

"You pitiful creature. You pitiful, despicable, creature."

Voldo stopped in his tracks and turned his head towards the elder's face. He growled and hissed in anger.

"Do you want this?" The old man lifted the sack up and down, teasing the insane Voldo.

Voldo nodded eagerly.

"No."

Voldo stopped nodding and slowly got off of his hands and knees and onto his feet. He extended his katars. He hissed vehemently.

"This sword is not something I would let a sad fool like you hold or even touch. I can see you're already insane, no doubt a cause of obsessing over this sword." The old man turned back around and began dragging the sack off with him, "No. No one can have this sword. It belongs in here. This cathedral. The Lost Cathedral." He looked back once again and grinned at Voldo who was now malevolently "gazing" at him, "Do you know why they call it the Lost Cathedral? It's because that it never stays in the same place forever. It disappears back into the spirit world once the seeker of the cathedral accomplishes what he came to do. It only appears for those who seek it, and even then only to those who put their heart and soul into finding it. I sought this place for a long time. It appeared for me because it knows my true intentions. I intend to put this cursed sword into its halls, and seal it away forever! Men will never set their eyes on it again!"

The elder hefted the sack onto his shoulders and continued on up the stairs and into the cathedral. Voldo followed but as soon as he placed a foot on the first stair, he stopped and cowered down in fear. In his ears he could hear sounds of the dead. Some talked amongst themselves, some sang merrily, and some wailed in sadness. Voldo heard one particular voice in particular, one that screamed bloody murder. It pierced Voldo's ears and tore at his heart and terrified him senseless. He violently jerked his head back and forth, wailing and crying horribly. Voldo had sunken into even deeper insanity.

The elder looked at Voldo with pity. It was truly a sad sight to see something that was once a man like himself to be tortured so, but he knew Voldo's case was hopeless.

He continued on into the cathedral and found a room that had a balcony overlooking the outside world. There, in that room was a shallow pool of water. In the middle of the pool was the same fountain Abyss had seen. He stepped out onto the balcony and found a pedestal designed in an old Greek design.

He dropped the sack and opened it, and he pulled out the one and only Soul Embrace.

"Now this is where you belong. No longer will you plague our world." He placed the sword upon the pedestal and it instantly took roots into the stone pedestal, holding it in place.

The elder smiled and truly felt relief, "I've finished my job here. Time to go back home." He turned around, feeling free and relieved of the weight he had carried in his heart. He had shown great spirit and resilience to not have fallen to the power of the sword. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes, only to meet face to face with a psychotic Voldo.

Voldo jabbed his katars into the old man's stomach and sliced them out sideways, spilling the old man's viscera onto the floor. The man dropped to the floor, his eyes still wide open, but he was dead. Then, in a blind rage, Voldo proceeded to slaughter the body. When he was finished, a pile of the still warm flesh of Old Man Cepheus had been left behind.

Voldo trudged through the cathedral. He didn't bother to retrieve the Soul Embrace. He was blind to the world that he lived in now. The only thing he saw was rage and bloodlust. As he exited the cathedral, the voices of the dead still filled his mind, but there was no longer the mind of a human in there anymore, only that of a demon. On his way down the stairs, he stumbled on his own feet and tumbled all the way down. Once he finished falling, he stood up unfazed and walked aimlessly on and into the dark forest. Behind him, the Lost Cathedral faded into the ether.

Meanwhile, Abyss watched what had just transpired in the monster's orb and laughed. "Interesting. But it is no longer a problem. I know where the Soul Embrace is now, and it will not be going anywhere. As for the situation now…"

Abyss sliced open a portal with his scythe and tossed the monster's body into it, "I'll still need your crystal, monster. I would not want you to be destroyed yet." After doing that, he floated into the sky and held out his palm. In an instant, a strong vortex began to form in the palm of his hand. It began to pull in everything into a singular point. The powerful vortex sucked in the water of the oasis, then the vegetation, then even the oasis itself, including the animals. All of it was sucked into a singular point and concentrated until a glowing, light blue stone was formed. "I knew it!"

The energy radiating from the newly formed Holy Stone burnt Abyss's palm. He instantly flew back and away from it as a reaction and let the stone drop to the desert sand. He would leave it for his assassins to destroy. For now, he had to go and check up on his precious Soul Embrace.

He opened a portal. Abyss knew the cathedral had disappeared, but there was nowhere in the existing universe that he could not get access to. His portal lead him right to the pedestal holding the Soul Embrace. He caressed it carefully. His plan was coming together slowly. He had the lock: the Soul Embrace. Now he needed the key: Siegfried Schtauffen.


	18. Chapter 17

**Author's notes: Thanks for the reviews, and thanks for the suggestions from you, TheDarkSpirit182. I'll be working on them. Thanks go to Jays Arravan, and Lepus Iratus for commenting.**

**Chapter 17**

The trio followed the beaten road to the next big city. Within two days, they smiled to see another large and bustling city much like the last one they had come from.

"_Tournament…Winner receives a prized and coveted charm…_Hey, Siegfried, what could the charm be?" Cassandra stood in front of a large wooden sign, staring at the words with her hand on her chin, pondering.

Siegfried joined her by her side, "It could only be one thing. I've hunted down enough Soul Edge fragments to know that when a tournament is ever held, the prize is almost always a fragment Soul Edge, or a weapon tainted with its power." Siegfried examined the sign, looking for something, "When is it?"

"So, you're gonna enter?" Cassandra stared at Siegfried's expression and sighed, "Of course you are…Should we enter too? I mean, if you lose, then we'll still have a chance of winning it."

Sophitia gasped, "Cassandra, don't you even think about it! I'm not going to let you enter. The contestants in these types of tournaments are completely ruthless!"

Cassandra casually waved off her sister, "You worry way too much, Sis. You remind me of Mom sometimes."

Siegfried smiled and chuckled, "You two are definitely sisters. Anyways, I'm the only one who's going to enter. Just look at the entrance fee."

"Whoa! That's ridiculous!" Cassandra quickly pulled out her little purse and poured out her money into her hand. There was barely enough to buy a decent dinner. It was obviously not enough to enter the tournament. "How much do you got, Sis?"

"I have this much," Sophitia held out her handful of coins. She had more, but still not enough. Both sisters turned to Siegfried.

"I've got absolutely nothing," Siegfried answered to their stares. He ran his hand through his hair and let out a big breath, "We'll have to find work. Luckily, the tournament's in a week. Let's hope we make enough money by then, I'm not going to miss this chance."

XOOOOOX

Cassandra wandered through town with a bored and listless look on her face. She, Siegfried, and Sophitia had all split up to look for work. It was about lunchtime, and Cassandra's belly rumbled. She desperately wanted to buy herself a roll from the bakery nearby, but she promised Siegfried and Sophitia to save their money.

She bitterly mumbled under her breath while she watched her feet take their steps under her. "…I'm starving…"

In fairness to Cassandra, they had not eaten much is anything at all those past two days. Cassandra passed many shops and homes in which she could've found work, but she somehow knew that there was no way in which she could have made enough money within their time limitations. Despite her hunger and bitterness, she kept on looking.

Her stroll came to a stop after she walked across and open-air stage. She watched as the actors proudly performed their lines, capturing the spectators' attention with the loud and bold voices. She gathered to see the play with the other city people to watch. She couldn't take her eyes off the stage. The performance captivated her. They had stolen her attention, and Cassandra was truly entertained.

XOOOOOX

The heat radiating from the oven warmed Sophitia's autumn-chilled cheeks. She slid in a large pan of dough and watched as the glowing flame slowly cooked the cold dough into rich bronze pastries.

Sophitia, obviously, had found herself a job at a bakery. Her surroundings comforted her. They reminded her of the bakery back at her home. The soft conversation in the background lifted her spirits, and for the briefest moment she let her worries of the cursed blade slip her mind.

As the rolls finished baking and more customers walked in, Sophitia spotted a man dressed noticeably different from the other patrons. His attire was like a nobleman's, and by the way he carried himself, Sophitia knew he was. What struck her the most, and what stunned her the most, were his eyes that burned like fire. She had seen those eyes before, but they were in another's head. Several years ago, she stood face to face with a black knight with those same. Back then, she didn't know who he was, but now she traveled freely with him. The possessed Siegfried once had those eyes. They were the eyes of the devil.

She silently watched as the man took a seat and casually waved a waiter over to him. She was scared for the waiter's safety, but she couldn't do anything because of the fear of what this man was capable of.

She watched warily as the waiter slowly approached him. Sophitia could see that he was afraid of the nobleman as well. His shaky legs worked to keep him from collapsing onto the floor. The waiter stopped by the stranger's table. The nobleman motioned with his finger to come closer. The waiter did so. To the waiter's relief, the nobleman opened the menu left on the table and pointed out his orders.

"…And be quick with it."

Sophitia breathed a breath of relief. She went back to her work, but she knew she couldn't let the stranger leave her mind. Throughout his stay, Sophitia periodically observed him from the back of the room. He didn't seem to be up to anything, but nevertheless, he kept the workers on their toes.

Once he was finished with his meal and drink, he wiped his lips with his handkerchief. His eyes traveled to Sophitia, who was hiding behind a column spying on him. Sophitia gasped in shock. He smiled suavely and motioned her to him. Sophitia gulped and made her way to him. He stood to greet her, and just like a gentleman, he bowed and took her hand and kissed it.

"Pleased to meet you," he had a charming smile, Sophitia had to admit that, but his evil eyes showed his true side. "You truly are a beautiful woman, did you know that? I'm sure your younger sister will grow into a beautiful woman as well."

Sophitia quickly pulled her hand away, "What? How do you know of my sister?"

"I know even more. I know that she is, at this time, performing on stage. She is a wonderful dancer, isn't she? And I have seen that you're both traveling with a certain man. A man with a very colorful past. What was his name? Schtauffen. That was his name. He is friends with you, true?"

Sophitia began to tremble, and her voice cracked as she answered, "Yes."

"Unfortunate for you and your sister, because I'm going to murder him. I'm going to slice his throat clean open." His voice was cold and deadly, "Then I'll kill your sister."

Tears began to stream down Sophitia's face, "No, you won't…I won't let you!"

"And what will you do? You try to take me on here and I swear to God I'll drain all of these people dry. Do you hear me, woman?" He grinned sinisterly, "Best you don't cry. Enjoy these last days with him. And tell your sister the same thing. I can tell by the way she carries herself around him that she fancies him. Don't let her miss her chance." He slid his finger along the blade of his rapier and the scoffed at Sophitia's crying. As he made his way to the door, the innocent bystanders cleared a path for the demon Raphael Sorel.

Sophitia collapsed onto the floor and cried her heart out. Not ever had she felt so helpless. It was something in his eyes and voice that seemed to shatter anyone's will and hope. Her fellow workers came to check on her. They looked out the door into the street, praying to God that the devil wouldn't come back in.

XOOOOOX

Completely oblivious to the threat made on his life, Siegfried swung down his axe onto a piece of wood, setting it onto the axe. He sent the axe down once again to completely cut the piece of wood in half.

Siegfried decided to help out the residents in town by doing work and errands for them that normally they would never have wanted to do.

"You're so strong. You remind me of my son." A woman came out of her home and handed Siegfried a glass of water.

Siegfried gladly took the glass and put down the axe. He drank it all down and thanked the woman. "How old is your son?"

"About as old as you are, I'm sure." She smiled kindly and took the glass from him.

"Where is he?"

"He decided to leave home and join the army. He writes home every now and then to tell me how well everything is working for him there, but I can't help but worry. Just last week I received a letter from him saying that they were heading off to battle."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. He's not alone."

"I know. But it's not a battle with his enemies I worry about; it's the monsters roaming about that worry me. Haven't you heard? There have been monsters popping up everywhere lately. It's as if the days of old have returned and its inhabitants have also. It scares me."

Siegfried nodded. He wouldn't doubt that monsters were now back amongst the living. He knew that Nightmare's presence was enough to attract the unholy beasts out of hiding.

Siegfried finished cutting the last piece of lumber and set off on his way after receiving his payment. He stared at the measly amount of money in his hand, "This is not going to help. There has got to be a better way." Siegfried remembered how to make good money. He had made a living off of being a mercenary before he had succumbed to Soul Edge's influence, but he wasn't willing to work as a mercenary now.

XOOOOOX

"So you'll kill him?"

Siegfried nodded. His client extended his hand and Siegfried took it, sealing the deal. After shaking hands with the man, Siegfried hastily left the restaurant that their deal had been made in.

Outside, under the evening sky, Siegfried rubbed his forehead. He had butterflies in his stomach.

_What did I do? I just agreed to carry out a hit on a man._

He had met the man while roaming around town. Somehow his client could read him. He knew that Siegfried was in need of money, and he could somehow tell that Siegfried had worked as a mercenary and a hitman before. He treated Siegfried to a dinner and then put forward the job offer.

Siegfried was supposed to kill a nobleman who had made a threat on his client's life over an argument. Siegfried's client was himself a nobleman. He ran a company that ran the carriages carrying people in and out of town. The other noble wanted to rent out several carriages for his guests that would be needing them as transportation to his party. The owner denied him use of all those carriages, saying that others needed them as well, and the argument led to threats being made on one another's lives.

Siegfried was caught up in the money being offered. It was a vast amount of money being offered, and he just couldn't think straight after learning how much his client was willing to pay. But Siegfried knew he would find another way around this, and no one would die. He would scare the other noble out of town, simple as that.

He took a walk through town to gather his thoughts so that when the time came, he wouldn't make any mistakes. He stopped as he came across a massive crowd of people. He forced his way through the throngs of people to see the object of their attention. When he pushed his way up to the front of the crowd, he found a small stage decorated with colorful ceramic masks and several types of plants.

Several dancers dressed in wonderfully colored costumes performed on stage. They danced in a very fast and rhythmic pace. The dance was appealing in that the outfits the dancers had on were revealing and pleasing to eyes, more specifically, the men's eyes.

Siegfried's eyes wandered through the dancers. He focused on one particular dancer. Cassandra. She happily danced to the music with a large, bright smile on her face. She wore a very short dress that showed off her perfectly shaped legs and just a little more. She suggestively bounced her hips to the music. Siegfried couldn't stop staring. He suddenly felt a feeling for Cassandra that he had never felt before.

On stage, Cassandra's eyes dropped on Siegfried and widened in surprise. Her face flashed to bright red. Her dancing momentarily faltered, but when she saw the look on Siegfried's face, she regained her smile and continued dancing.

Siegfried noticed that she had spotted him. As he continued watching, her dance seemed to become even more suggestive. It seemed as if she was making her way across the stage to where he watched. Her movements seemed to direct towards him, and now Siegfried knew that her dance was just for him.

The performance came to an end. The crowds dispersed and the performers made their way off stage. Siegfried stayed behind and struggled past the people as he tried to reach Cassandra. She wasn't going anywhere, though. She waited for him patiently.

"Cassandra," he got to her and observed her body closer, "What kind of a job is this?"

"I'm working as a performer," she began to explain, but then she understood what he really wanted to know, "I, uh, do more than dance. Sometimes I sing and sometimes I act. It's not just this. And for my outfit, well, it was only for this occasion. Do you understand, Siegfried?"

"I do," he stepped in closer to her and looked into her big round eyes. He could sense some intimidation in her, so he relieved her by placing his hands on her soft arms.

Cassandra could feel a tinge of lust in the air as they looked into each other's eyes. It seemed to be coming from Siegfried. She couldn't stand the pressure anymore. She let herself go and turned into jelly in his arms. Siegfried was taken by surprise, but he held her close. She looked up at his lips and moved in to claim a kiss from her knight, but stopped when she heard him speak.

"Where are you sleeping tonight, Cassandra?" He very slowly let go of her.

Cassandra regained control of her emotions, "The performers get their own rooms to sleep in for free. I'm sharing with a couple of others."

"Women?"

"Yes, Siegfried." She shivered as a cold breeze suddenly blew, "I'll be in that inn," she pointed towards a large, well-kept inn, "If you need a place to sleep tonight…I'll be waiting there. Just tell the others you know me."

He smiled and grabbed hold of her. He turned her around and gently pushed her off, "Thanks. Why don't you go now? It's getting cold out." He took off his cloak and gave it to her.

"Thank you, Siegfried."

"Goodnight."

Cassandra nodded and headed off, but she turned around one last time and asked, "Do you know where Sophitia is?"

Siegfried shook his head, "No, but I'll be getting to that now."

XOOOOOX

Sophitia desperately searched all through town looking for her little sister and Siegfried, mainly Siegfried. She had to warn him. If she didn't…

Her efforts were fruitless. The two were nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, Siegfried readied himself for his confrontation. He had said that he would check up on Sophitia, but he knew that she could take care of herself. She would be fine. He was right, more or less.

Siegfried stepped through the doors of the ballroom. Inside were several guests. There seemed to be little given the fact that this was a huge ballroom. Siegfried walked across the room, getting odd stares from the guests. What bothered him, though, was that some of the guests sneered and then chuckled under their breath. Amongst these people was his target.

Siegfried, being a man of honor, searched for his man to face one on one. He walked past the glares and snickers to the end of a long dinner table set up in the middle of the room. He took a look at the food and drink. The food seemed normal enough, but there was more red meat than usual. The drink looked to be red wine. There, sitting at the end, swirling a wine glass of very red wine was his target. Siegfried stopped in shock as he looked upon his face.

"Y…you…How…how did you survive?" Siegfried looked upon the face of Raphael, the man who, as Nightmare, Siegfried had beaten to the point of death.

Raphael gave a disgusted look and growled as he stared at Siegfried, "I didn't expect to see you here. I mean, I knew you were in town, but I didn't expect you to have the tenacity of walking in on my dinner uninvited!" He stood up and exposed his rapier. Pointing it at Siegfried, he smiled and showed his fangs.

"You are a demon…"

The guests of the party suddenly began hissing and laughing maniacally. They dropped their glasses and leapt at Siegfried one by one. Siegfried dodged them, although not gracefully. These people were quick like animals.

"I see your guests found another method of transportation to get here." Siegfried brought forward his Requiem. He could see their fangs as they licked them. These people were like Raphael, vampires.

Raphael slicked back his hair and chuckled, "Hm, more of them could've made it if I had gotten what I wanted. Consider yourself lucky."

The first vampire came at Siegfried with lightning quick speed, but Siegfried was quicker with his blade now that he had seen their speeds. He quickly swung his blade and sliced the vampire in two just as he sidestepped his leaping strike. "Anyone else want to try me? I won't be killed by the hands of demons!"

The vampires did not heed his words and came at him like a swarm of rabid dogs. They all fell one by one, all being sliced in two in one way or another. But being monsters, they did not die immediately, except for those who were sliced down the middle. Those missing their lower halves crawled and clawed at Siegfried's legs. They tried to bite at his legs, but his armor stopped that. Siegfried kicked them aside and turned to face Raphael, but he was gone.

"Where did he go?"

"Surprise!" Raphael took Siegfried by the armor and threw him onto the dinner table. He then pushed Siegfried off and sent him sliding across the entire table. The food, drink and tableware went flying. Siegfried fell off the table and quickly got up. He looked for Raphael again, but once again he was gone.

Raphael stood atop the uppermost balcony and looked down upon Siegfried as he searched for him. He waited for his moment and then leapt down at him like a hawk. He had his teeth bared and was ready to take Siegfried down, but in an amazing display of agility, Siegfried jumped and caught him with an incredible dropkick. The impact was enough to knock the wind out of Raphael and send him flying back several feet into a wall, cracking it.

Siegfried rolled back up and held up his Requiem to block as Raphael charged him with his rapier extended and aimed at Siegfried's throat. Siegfried blocked the point of Raphael's sharp blade with the broadside of he sword with a swing, breaking Raphael's Flambert in two. The broken blade fell to the floor with the other fragments of Flambert.

"Damn you!" Before Siegfried could capitalize, Raphael spin-kicked him in the side of the neck, stunning him momentarily. Siegfried fell to one knee and watched as Raphael ran out of the ballroom.

_I cannot kill him without a weapon…I'll fight another day._ Raphael ran off into the woods with Siegfried pursuing him. The ground was moist and left many tracks. Raphael's breath puffed through the cold air. This night was miserably cold for autumn. Mud and dead leaves stuck to his shoes, getting curses from the vampire.

Siegfried had the same problem, but he wasn't the kind of man to worry about what he stepped on. He ran as fast as he could have run with his armor on, but the nimble Raphael evaded him easily. Soon, Siegfried lost track of Raphael.

Siegfried stopped and surveyed the area in a full circle, "No, I lost him. How could he have escaped from my sight so quickly? I know I was right on his trail." Siegfried jumped as an owl hooted behind him. He turned to look at the bird. He stared into its large, glowing yellow eyes. Siegfried suddenly wondered out of the blue, _What is this bird thinking?_

"You lost him."

"What!" Siegfried's heart nearly stopped. He just heard a voice. He looked frantically for the owner of the voice.

"Aren't you disappointed in yourself?"

"Who…Who's there!" Siegfried's Requiem was ready.

"What if you could become stronger? If you were stronger, would you have caught him?" The voice speaking to him was very loud. It had a ring of confidence in it, a Herculean voice of sorts.

Hiding in the shadows was a tall standing figure. It stood with poise and confidence. Siegfried tried to make out the figure, but before he could, he was rushed. He lifted up his zweihander in time but his attacker raised a fist and punched. The incredibly powerful attacker broke Siegfried's Requiem in two with just one punch. The fist continued on to strike Siegfried in the chest, knocking him off his feet and onto his back.

Siegfried looked astonished at his broken zweihander, then at the fist-sized dent in his armor. "Who are you?" Revealed in the moonlight was a tall, muscular creature standing with his arms folded across his chest. Siegfried was amazed to see that as feet he had the talons of an owl, and his head was what shocked Siegfried the most. He had the head of an owl.

Siegfried got back up to his feet, speechless. He examined the odd owlman. But then the reality hit him. While he stood here gawking at the odd creature, Raphael was making his escape. "Who are you? Are you working with him?"

"That coward? Of course not!" The owlman tilted his head and looked past the trees and into the clearing behind them, "He hides and runs like a fox, and foxes are cowardly dogs." He pointed behind Siegfried, who turned to look.

There, off the distant clearing, Raphael climbed aboard a carriage. A large, black horse with glowing red eyes pulled the carriage, and at the reigns was a short figure cloaked and hooded.

"No! Don't run, you coward!" Siegfried suddenly took off after the carriage, but there was no hope in catching it. Before even coming close to it, the carriage had already ridden off. Siegfried stopped and watched it speed off. He bent over and began panting for air. From behind him, the owlman appeared again.

"Do you want to be stronger?"

Siegfried nodded, "Yes."

"Then I can make you stronger. But you must work hard. I warn you, my training is rigorous. Very harsh on the body and mind. Can you take it?"

"Yes."

"Very well then. We'll see how much you can take." Siegfried's new teacher, Olcadan, beckoned him to follow.

XOOOOOX

Sophitia stumbled across the open doors of the ballroom. All was silent. The doors were flung wide open, as if someone had left in a rush, and that they did. Inside was still brightly lit, but she could see no shadows moving inside. She decided to step in.

Sophitia cupped her mouth to suppress a gasp when she laid her eyes upon the slaughter inside. Dozens of bodies were on the floor. Some sliced in half down the middle, and some sliced through the abdomen. Pools of blood were slowly spreading on the floor. Suddenly, she heard a hiss. She saw a vampire crawling on her hands, half of her body gone, and leaving a massive trail of blood behind her. She pushed herself off the ground with her arms and leapt at Sophitia. Sophitia ducked and let the vampire woman fall back down to the floor. The vampire tried to push herself back up, but abruptly stopped. Her jaw stopped in place and stiffened, as did her body. Her eyes began to roll up into her head and then she fell back down, motionless save for a few involuntary twitches.

Sophitia was horrified to see such a thing. She knelt and began to pray for the poor souls. She prayed for the gods to bless this place.

Afterwards, she continued to examine the ballroom. She came to a large, red box sitting on a table at the end of the room. Beside it was a key. Sophitia opened the box and found a short ninja sword inside of it. She instantly recognized it. This belonged to the ninja that she had met almost seven years ago. She felt her heart sink. What had happened to the ninja? Had these beasts killed her and taken her weapon as a trophy?

Sophitia took the sword and quickly left the ballroom before anyone saw her. As she went back to her room in the bakery, she still had concerns. Siegfried's and Cassandra's well being still worried her. She had no idea if he was still alive or not. Sophitia felt that things were not going well for anyone at all.

XOOOOOX

Cassandra tucked herself into bed with a slight giggle. She looked out her window and stared at the moon. _Siegfried, you were so close to me. Ah, I don't care how dark things can get. For now, everything is great. _


	19. Chapter 18

**Author's Notes: Sorry for taking so long to update. Damn, hope people are still reading this... **

**Chapter 18**

Siegfried's training was indeed rigorous. No, that wasn't it. Siegfried's training was hell. Every morning at 5 o' clock, Olcadan would wake Siegfried by kicking him into a freezing cold river, telling him to "wash up". Then he would immediately start training him, not even giving him a chance to dry off.

The training itself was ridiculously hard. After a pathetic breakfast of nuts and fruit, Siegfried would be given an enormous log, actually happening to just be a well sized tree Olcadan had knocked down and trimmed branchless the night before, to carry up and down the hill until 9 o' clock. This was warm-up. At first Siegfried wasn't even able to lift the giant piece of lumber, but after each day he was able to lift it up little by little. The first day he even got to walk the hill with it was three days after he had initially started training. And even then, Siegfried had to squat up the hill, the full weight of the log severely weighing him down.

Then, until noon, he was trained by Olcadan himself. The training he got varied, from learning fighting moves to reading from an old book that contained stories of the gods. Olcadan claimed that reading the book would make Siegfried understand the gods' ways, and also make him think like one. Siegfried really didn't understand.

Lunch was as pathetic as breakfast. Nuts and fruit again. After lunch, Siegfried would learn more methods of fighting. Olcadan took this time to hone Siegfried's abilities, such as balance, strength and agility. This went on for four hours.

Then at 6 o' clock, Siegfried and Olcadan would spar with one another. This was not only a way to train Siegfried, but it gave Olcadan a chance to see how much his pupil had achieved. At the end of each two hour battle, Siegfried would lay beaten and breathless.

Siegfried's late dinner was probably the most satisfying meal he had all day. Each night consisted of a wild bird accompanied with fish. Olcadan knew that a man wouldn't be at his best if he was starving, so this was like compensation for the poor previous meals.

As Olcadan headed off on his own business at night, Siegfried stayed behind and meditated as Olcadan had instructed him to. Siegfried, being a European, did not know the purpose of meditation, but yet he played along. He would let his mind wander and he though about everything, from his past to the world beyond Europe to women. He didn't know if this was meditating, but he didn't bother to care. The night hours would pass him by and before he knew it, he would be fast asleep.

XOOOOOX

It went on like this for a week. This was his last day of training, which worked out perfectly, as the tournament was tomorrow.

"Olcadan, what do you have planned for me?" Siegfried massaged his knuckles, loosening and popping them. The sun was high overhead, yet a chill was in the air.

For some reason, Olcadan had broken their daily routine and now had Siegfried waiting for new instructions. The owlman stood with his arms folded across his chest just several feet in front of Siegfried. He stared sternly at the young knight.

_What's he looking at? Is he planning on attacking me? _Siegfried reached back to grab his weapon, but he remembered he no longer had a sword. He had instinctively reached for his blade several times during training this past week, only to come to the harsh realization that it was no longer strapped to him. Wary of the owlman, Siegfried readied his fists, ready to defend himself at a moment's notice.

Olcadan scoffed, "Ha! You raise your fists? Expecting a surprise attack, are you? Smart. But what can your fists do against an attack like this!" He raised his palm into the air and then sent his arm down swiftly, almost like it was a fan.

"Wha…!" Siegfried raised his arms to block an oncoming wave of green, transparent rings. It was to no avail. The blades of wind sliced through his gauntlets and bled his skin. His body was also struck by the blades. His armor was left with gashes and his chest was lacerated. The force of the wind blades blew Siegfried over, and he writhed on the ground in pain.

The pain was sharp, and Siegfried couldn't hold in his anger as he yelled to Olcadan, "Damn you, Olcadan! What did you do?!"

Olcadan chuckled and walked to Siegfried, "That was an elemental attack, Siegfried. Not even the finest armor can protect you from it. It's most useful."

"And you attacked me with it just to show me that?!"

"Yes!" Olcadan laughed loud and proud, "Best you learn by experience its effectiveness!" He extended a hand to Siegfried, "Do you want to learn an elemental attack?"

Siegfried glared at Olcadan, then at his hand, examining it for any kind of trick. But he realized that the owlman was trying to teach him a powerful ability, and now was no time to be holding grudges against the teacher. He took his hand and Olcadan helped him up. "I'll learn, Olcadan."

"Good!"

XOOOOOX

"Hahhh!" Siegfried attacked again, leaving a fairly sized plot of land devastated before him. He stopped and caught his breath. These attacks were taking a lot out of him, and the delivery of the attacks stung his hands like hundreds of singing bees. But he looked at the results, and he was pleased.

"Very good, Siegfried. You've learned it, although you could refine it and perform it better." Olcadan knew he should've taught him the elemental attack earlier so that Siegfried would have more time to practice, but he was impressed that Siegfried had even learned to unleash in only a day. Most of his other students had taken months to learn it.

"Olcadan, I'm exhausted. Let me rest now, please." Siegfried sat down on the ground and rubbed his hands.

"Fine. I suppose you should. Your tournament is tomorrow, after all."

"The tournament! I forgot about the fee. How am I going to enter now? I doubt the women made enough money to enter."

Olcadan chuckled at Siegfried's shock, "With an attack like that you don't need money to make your way into a tournament. But if you really need it…" Olcadan pulled off a pouch tied to his waist and tossed it to Siegfried. It landed with a loud clank.

Siegfried's eyes were hopeful when he heard the sound, "Could it be?" He quickly opened the medium sized pouch and found enough money to enter the same tournament twice. "Thank you, Olcadan! "

"And there's something else I want to give you. Follow me."

Siegfried followed Olcadan to a large burlap sack. "Wait, isn't my Requiem in that?"

"Yes, why do you ask?" Olcadan took up the sack and dropped it in front of Siegfried.

"You said you were going to give me something. Don't tell me that's it."

Olcadan began to laugh in a similar fashion to Rock's mocking laughter, which made Siegfried cringe a bit, "No no!" He presented Siegfried a small cube made of a tan stone with a crest of a bird on it. He seemed to pull it out of nowhere, "This is what I was going to give you." He tossed it to the ground and upon landing it exploded into a large puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, a large, black sword with runes etched into its sides lay on the ground, the sunlight gleaming off its dark surface.

Siegfried's blue eyes widened. He looked upon the blade and it was as if he was staring at an artifact of legend. "Could this really be…? The Glam!"

This was the legendary sword that the Siegfried of legend used to slay the dragon Fáfnir. Despite not being a reader, even Siegfried knew this legend. Siegfried knelt down and picked up the legendary zweihander.

"I know that swordsmen like you feel empty without your blades, so this is a replacement for the one I broke. Your old zweihander was a sword for a soldier. This zweihander is a sword for a true warrior."

"Mine?" Siegfried marveled at the beauty of the blade. "This is truly a great sword. Is it right for me to wield it?"

"Why not? The legendary Siegfried was just a normal man like you, and he wielded it. Why shouldn't you? You'll find it has more than just a sharp edge."

Siegfried practiced with the sword. He stopped, realizing that it was just as heavy as his Requiem was, "Olcadan, this still feels heavy. I don't get it; shouldn't my morning training have made me stronger? A zweihander should feel as light as a regular sword to me by now."

"True, but the Glam is heavier than any regular zweihander. My training only took you far enough that you could wield it like your Requiem. If only we had more time to train you. But this is our last day, Siegfried. You'll have to train yourself."

"Thank you, Olcadan." Siegfried knelt down to Olcadan, as a student to his master.

"I knew it would be of use to you. I'll be watching you at the tournament tomorrow, Siegfried. Don't disappoint me." He then picked up a bottle that was beside the sack and handed it to Siegfried. "For your wounds."

It was an ointment of some kind. Siegfried felt his wounds and winced. He would need this.

"Olcadan, thank you for teaching me. Thanks to you, my journey will be so much easier."

Olcadan simply nodded and then left the German knight as he disappeared in a vortex of wind and leaves.

XOOOOOX

Siegfried was sleeping well and long. He was resting up for the big day. It had been six days since he had gotten a full night's sleep, and he was making the most out of this sleep.

As he dreamed, something shoved him. He felt it again. Siegfried groaned. Then he felt it on his shoulder. It was like a boot. Someone's foot. He realized this and quickly opened his eyes.

"Cassandra…! What are you kicking me for?"

Cassandra placed her hands on her hip and looked down crossly at Siegfried, "You're asking me the questions?! Yeah right! Where the hell have you been all week?" She took her foot and stomped on his shoulder, pinning it against the tree Siegfried sat against. But when he groaned and winced in pain she quickly let it go, "Oh! Sorry Siegfried. I didn't know you were hurt…What happened to you. You look terrible."

Indeed he did. His armor was covered with large gashes and scratches. His clothes were torn and there was a large dent in the middle of his chest armor. He rubbed his shoulder and got up.

"Don't worry about it. I've been battling with a friend. That's all."

"That's all?! Do you know how much Sophitia's been stressing over you? She's been acting strange all week. And I've been just as worried!" Her tone then softened to almost a whisper, "And that night when you didn't come to me…I went out looking for you the next day, and the next, and the next, you know what I mean? I stopped working. I made no more money than this," she showed all the money she had made, and it wasn't much. "Sorry. But, I was too busy looking for you."

Siegfried smiled comfortingly at her, and closed her hand holding the pouch of coins, "Don't worry, I made enough." He showed her the sack of money Olcadan had given him, and Cassandra gasped in astonishment.

"That's incredible! Where'd you get all that?"

"A good friend I met in town offered it to me. Lucky, isn't it?"

"You're the most amazing guy I've ever met, Siegfried. While Sophitia and I worked our butts off for a handful of coins, you make a month's worth of work by slacking off with a friend. That's luck." She playfully shoved him and then began walking away with a little pep in her step knowing that they would be traveling easy.

Siegfried followed carrying the sack with the broken Requiem inside it and the bottle of ointment, and strapped on his back, wrapped in his cloak, was the legendary Glam. His mind was at relative ease over the tournament.

XOOOOOX

Siegfried felt so small and insignificant as he entered the enormous coliseum. The roar of the crowd didn't help. Everything was so big. The battleground itself must have been large enough to fit half of the spectators in. He walked amongst the other contestants to the center of the battleground so that the spectators could take a look at all of them, as well make their bets on the winner.

Cassandra and Sophitia sat among the crowd members on the upper seats.

"Think he'll win?!" Cassandra had to yell despite sitting right beside Sophitia. Her sister remained silent for a few moments, and Cassandra was beginning to worry about her.

There were other things on Sophitia's mind at the moment, but she wouldn't worry Cassandra with her problems. She decided to address them to Siegfried after the tournament.

"…He'll do fine, I'm sure. He's got strengths that none of the others have. I'm just worried about his armor. It could be a hindrance."

Siegfried examined his armor. It was in shambles. So many exposed spots. He would have to be at the top of his defensive game with such glaring targets. At least he had a sword.

Amongst all the clamor of eager fans, Cassandra and Sophitia could make out a man giving his prediction of tournament winner.

"I'm putting everything on Dragon! He's never lost a battle! He's been champion for four years straight!"

"Think he's that good, Sis? This Dragon guy? Think he could beat Siegfried?"

"Hush, Cassandra. They're announcing the first battle."

A tall man who carried himself quite proudly made his way through the contestants and instantly, as they saw him, the crowd quieted. He placed his hands behind his back and spoke in a loud and thunderous voice.

"Fair patrons! You have paid to see a fight, now let us deliver! I promise you will get your money's worth! Now let's not waste any more time! Our first battle will take place!" He turned around to face the fighters, "Will Matthias and Reinhardt step forth! The rest of the contestants may head into the gymnasium and warm up now!"

The crowd roared with excitement. They all stood on their feet and began waving their fists in the air.

"Let's see some heads roll!"

"Let's see a brawl! Ha ha!"

The crowd was going wild, and the two sisters felt threatened as they were the crowd rose to their feet to shout and yell, even though they were in no danger at all.

"Sis, this is really uncomfortable, and I can't see." Cassandra scooted to the side as a fanatic spectator began bumping into her.

"I doubt there's anywhere else we can sit. We'll have to bear with it." Sophitia huddled close to her sister as her space was filled in as well. The loud noise was making her feel a little apprehensive. She was careful not to drop the wrapped ninja sword she tied to her waist as she moved.

"These people are insane. How can they be so into violence?" Cassandra wished Siegfried luck, knowing that by the reaction of the fans, this was going to be a violent tourney.

XOOOOOX

The blade swung fast with deadly accuracy at the back of Siegfried's head, but Siegfried only needed a glimpse of the blade to react. He countered with his sword, the first time he ever had took it out of its cloth wrapping.

The blade gleamed with a dark magnificence and stopped the attacker in his tracks. As he absently marveled at the blade and Siegfried took his chance to strike. With a swift swinging uppercut, Siegfried defeated his opponent.

"That was easy enough." The crowd wasn't very impressed, seeing how easily he won. But a win was a win, and they had seen a fight, so they showed their appreciation.

XOOOOOX

All of Siegfried's other opponents were defeated with relative ease. But even so, he still had his eyes on one particular fighter. This fighter fought like a ruthless soldier, felling his enemies just as easily, if not more so, as Siegfried had. But even as ruthless as he was, he fought with a finesse that rivaled that of any skilled swordsman. He was not at all like a barbarian. Siegfried already knew. He and this warrior would have to face each other soon.

XOOOOOX

_His eyes are filled with focus. He's not going to let this be easy at all. I'll have to give my all for this, else I lose._

Siegfried stared his opponent straight in the eyes, and he stared back. Dragon was apparently a gladiator, as told by his attire. In his hands he held two throwing axes.

"Shall we begin? I think our fans are getting impatient." Dragon spoke. His voice was a low rumble.

"Very well."

Sparks flew as the two warriors collided with one another following a charge. Dragon had one of his double bladed axes holding back the zweihander, but with his other he struck at Siegfried's gut.

Siegfried saw this and leapt away, just having the axe graze his stomach. Dragon twirled his axes in his hands and jumped into the air. He tucked in his limbs and began rolling through the air. He suddenly stopped and threw an axe down at Siegfried. Siegfried sidestepped the axe and counter attacked with a fierce leaping attack. He jumped into the air as if he was catapulted and fiercely swung his blade, turning him a complete circle.

Dragon, however, suddenly fell back down to the earth just as quickly as Siegfried had leapt up. He landed with on his feet with a thud, blowing the dust away from his landing zone. He looked up at Siegfried and grinned. He held up his hand and showed by just how much Siegfried had missed with his fingers. He mouthed the words, "So close."

Siegfried landed and watched closely at Dragon's movements. _He came back down as if a weight was suddenly strapped to his feet. So quick. But how did he do it? Olcadan taught me how to…Wait! Could he also be…?_

Dragon went on the offensive again, this time sprinting circles around Siegfried and picking up his axe off the ground in the process.

_He's trying to attack me with speed. He thinks I'll be unable to defend against such a quick assault. _

"I'll stop you!" Siegfried placed the tip of Glam on the ground and quickly traced a circle in the ground, blowing up a cloud of blinding dust.

Dragon raised his arms to block the dust from entering his eyes, just enough time for Siegfried to intercept Dragon's path and ram him across the battleground.

Dragon landed in a dusty heap. He looked into the dust cloud for Siegfried, but he couldn't see past the veil. "The dust will settle soon, and you won't be able to hide any longer, friend." Dragon smiled, knowing Siegfried wouldn't be expecting his next move. He twirled one of his axes over and over again, turning it into a whirling blade. He quickly hurled the spinning blade. It flew through the air with great speed, looking as if it was cutting through the air itself. The axe flew into the cloud of dust, immediately blowing away the billowy cloud.

Cassandra gasped in fear as she heard a scream come from inside the dust cloud, "No! Siegfried!"

Sophitia cupped her hands over her mouth in equal fear. She held her breath waiting to see the aftermath.

When the dust settled, Siegfried was found lying on the ground, tightly clutching his left shoulder in intense pain. Blood flowed from the wound, and every time he moved it, blood just seemed to pump out.

Dragon approached Siegfried and spoke to him calmly, "I suppose that's what happens when you wear shambled armor to a tournament. You want to concede?"

"…No…" Siegfried said weakly.

"Very well then," Dragon picked up his axe and backed away from Siegfried, giving him room to stand up.

Siegfried got to his feet, careful not to move his arm. Once on his feet, he let his arm sag down to his side, afraid to move it. In his good arm he clutched tightly in his hand his Glam. "What was that? The axe didn't even hit me…but something sliced me open…The air…"

Dragon chuckled. He twirled his axe again. It seemed that was his favorite thing to do with his axes, "I call that the Air Javelin. An old master taught me it."

"Wait, you mean…"

"Yes, him. In fact, he's been watching us the entire time." Dragon pointed with his thumb behind him.

Siegfried looked. Up on the walls of the coliseum was none other than the owlman, his arms folded and his eyes watching intently at Siegfried. He slowly shook his head, just a little disappointed that his newest student wasn't even able to scratch his old pupil before he was seriously wounded.

Siegfried saw this and suddenly felt ashamed.

"I knew you were also his student. I could tell by the way you jumped," Dragon continued, "I expected better from one of my fellow peers."

Siegfried knew this was true, but this wasn't going to stop him. It was more the reason to fight and win. He raised his Glam to Dragon and smiled defiantly, "Let's continue, Dragon."

Olcadan watched Siegfried as he began to fight again. Dragon was a tough opponent, Olcandan knew this. He was one of his best students. But he also believed Siegfried to have potential. He was here for one reason, and that was to discern which one of his pupils was the strongest.

The battle continued with Siegfried swinging Glam wide and slow. He wasn't able to swing quick short attacks on account of his bad arm. Dragon could easily dodge the attacks, but he couldn't get in close to finish the battle. Siegfried made sure of that. Whenever Dragon approached, Siegfried swung at his head, then at his legs, then at his midsection. Dragon had no choice but to back away.

Siegfried tried his dust cloud technique again. He hid inside, regaining his breath. His arm stung like hell. He couldn't stay in there long. He knew Dragon would use his Air Javelin technique again. He had to think of something quick.

"That trick again? I thought you would never try it again after what happened before. Oh well, how's this!" He threw his twirling axe again. The axe split through the air like a boat through water. It entered the veil and immediately dispersed the dust. There was nothing. His axe continued flying and lodged itself into the side of the battle ground wall. Where had Siegfried gone? He walked to his axe, all the while looking around him for any sign of his opponent.

Something dripped onto his boot. He knelt down and wiped it off with his finger. _Blood? _He looked up. There was Siegfried, high above him. Dragon had forgotten to look up.

"Take this!" Siegfried came down with all his weight onto Dragon. Dragon had his face in the dirt, and Siegfried stood on his back, having just stomped him into the dirt. Siegfried leapt off him and kicked Dragon a few feet off the ground. Siegfried caught Dragon on the flat side of his blade and launched him across the battle ground like a catapult. The crowd all let out a groan as Dragon smacked into the wall.

Siegfried retrieved Dragon's axe and tucked it in his belt. Siegfried pointed his blade at Dragon and began to tighten his muscles. He was going to attempt his Earth Divide attack. He had done it many times before, but never with only one hand. He hoped that Glam's mythical strengths would compensate. He lifted his sword high and then slammed it down. The runes on Glam briefly glowed until a shock of energy created a fissure that ran across the ground towards Dragon.

"No…" But Dragon did not lie there to take the attack. He pushed himself up, ignoring the pain in his lower back, and leapt out of the way like an agile cat. _An attack such as that requires much recovery time…Now is my chance. _This was his only chance. It was all or nothing now. He twirled his axe, and set it loose. _He won't be able to dodge this. No way. _Dragon let it fly at Siegfried's neck in a desperate attempt to finish off his opponent for good.

Siegfried's shockwave missed its target and struck the wall, crumbling it and sending a handful of the spectators in the seats just above it falling into the battle ground.

Then Siegfried saw the axe coming to claim his head. It was coming so fast. How could he possibly react in time? But in that time when one is facing death, one's reflexes are heightened and time is slowed, and this was the case for Siegfried. The Air Javelin attack suddenly slowed before Siegfried's eyes. He could see every rotation of the axe. He could see the distorted path of air following it. And he could see that there was time to react now. He raised Glam, and swiped the axe off course. The blades of air still slicing through the air sliced his face, but the effects were much less effective now that its guide had been deflected. The axe went flying across the battle ground, far out of Dragon's reach.

Dragon, still on his hands and knees, lowered his head. Siegfried raised his sword again for another Earth Divide.

"Enough!" Dragon yelled. The crowd went silent and listened closely, "I…I concede." There was silence all about them. The entire coliseum stood still. "I have lost both my weapons. I can do no more."

The announcement was made. Siegfried was the winner.

Dragon clenched his fist, picking up a handful of dirt. He lifted his hand and let the dust fall from his hand. He looked up at Siegfried, and that was when he regretted his decision to quit. Siegfried's arm was trembling. His right arm was fatigued. Siegfried dropped his sword and let his arm drop. He shook his arm, trying to relieve the stress on it.

Siegfried wouldn't have been able to swing even one more time. If only he had known. Dragon scolded himself.

Siegfried's arm was numb all over. He knew how lucky he was that Dragon didn't continue, but then again, he could see Dragon was aching all over as well.

Cassandra let out a sigh of relief. He had won, but it hurt her to see him hurt and bleeding. She shuddered to see that his blood trailed the arena.

Sophitia felt the same. She hoped that he hadn't pushed himself too far.

The victory over Dragon brought Siegfried mixed emotions. The victory felt empty. Sure he defeated his opponent and won the tournament. In fact, that was the only reason he had entered in the first place: to win and gain the shard of Soul Edge. But now, knowing that he had won by a bluff, he felt inadequate. How would he ever hope to defeat Nightmare if he couldn't even truly defeat another man?

Olcadan sighed. This was not the kind of conclusion he wanted to see. But to see Dragon concede to another was not at all a common sight. He was a little impressed that Siegfried had outsmarted his strongest student.

It seemed that the outcome of the battle displeased many: Siegfried, Dragon, Olcadan, the crowd, and even the one who put it all together.

The crowd booed and jeered, and up in the royal seats, the host nearly lost his mind.

"WHAT!!! Forfeiting!? Dragon, forfeiting!? This isn't right! Damn that knight! I'll be damned if he makes away with the prize! Dragon's failed for the first time! And I swear it will be the last time!" The host ordered his two servants to come to him, "Tell the guards to unleash Drum! Let him have a field day with those two!"


	20. Chapter 19

**Author's Notes: Well, here's another chapter. I think that if there was one major thing I could improve on (and there's always a lot for me to improve on) it would be my fight scenes or my habit of rambling at the end of the chapters when I run out of ideas. Anyways, thanks for reading again and I hope you enjoy. And please remember to leave your thoughts with me. Voice your opinion (respectfully), and have your say on my writing. I am always open to suggestions (the non-flaming sort, that is).**

**Chapter 19**

Siegfried ripped off his left sleeve and wrapped it tightly around his wound. He gave the crowd a quick glance. They were beginning to get irritated, as were Dragon and Siegfried.

Dragon scowled furiously. He was sick of the audience's lack of respect. "You good for nothing trash!!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, "If any of you feel you could do any better, feel free to step in, you curs!!!"

The crowd fell silent.

Siegfried grinned. He agreed with Dragon. It was about time someone shut them all up.

Dragon fell onto his back and sighed. His back was strained beyond belief. "Ha! So I see no one has any backbone to say anything now, huh?!"

"Well, one does!" Up on his feet and standing at the edge of his balcony, the host stood clapping his hands, "Dragon, do you know how much money you just lost me?"

Dragon growled, "Romanov…What is the meaning of this?"

"Dragon, for years you have insured that no one would go home with the tournament money. I have received it all. Knowing you, you have no interest in money, and so our partnership worked out well, right? I mean, you got to fight hundreds of warriors, and I became rich off your winnings. But now, you've screwed up, and as a punishment, Dragon, you can entertain my audience with Drum. Your friend there can help you too." He snapped his fingers, and a pair of guards began to lift a wooden gate at the side of the coliseum.

A loud thumping echoed from the dark tunnel behind the gate. A steady beat of a drum rumbled like thunder from within. Siegfried slowly knelt down to pick up Glam as the thumping and loud drumming became louder and closer, never taking his eyes off the tunnel.

The tunnel began to glow orange, and soon a pair of orange flames appeared carried by two heavily armored soldiers. In one hand they held their torches, and in the other they carried a massive chain. A pair of drummers carrying oversized drums followed them. The soldiers slowly made their way into the light and put out their torches, and what followed the drummers was the largest freak of nature Siegfried had ever seen.

The monster was massive and slow. Its pale skin was like a thick hide. Its hands were shackled together by a great lock and its ankles were shackled by only a few feet of chain. All the chains and locks were connected, with the two loose ends in the hands of the soldiers. Its head was locked by a large, steel contraption. The contraption covered its eyes, blinding the monster from the rest of the world.

Dragon got onto his knees and gaped at the monster. He looked up at Romanov and scowled. _What have you sunken to?_

The two soldiers yanked the troll down to its hands and knees. One soldier stuck a key into the lock on its head contraption, and the other stuck one in its leg restraints. Then another, unarmored servant came with the last key to the monster's hand locks and inserted the key. The servant gave a silent countdown with his fingers, and on three they turned their keys and ran. The monster's restraints fell off and landed with a loud clamor. Pulling off its head contraption, the monster then hurled it across the arena, crumbling a stone wall. It roared angrily and swung its large arms, catching one of the armored soldiers as he was running and hurling him into the wall, completely shattering his armor and his body.

Siegfried stared in pure shock at the monstrosity before him. Siegfried only thought trolls to exist in fantasy, but here he stood, looking upon a real life troll. The troll saw him, and grinned sinisterly, showing its large, gnarled, yellow teeth. What disturbed Siegfried however, were the monster's blue eyes. They were human, in one way or another, but they were clouded in stupidity.

The troll turned to Dragon, who suddenly went as still as a stone. Siegfried ran to his side, "Dragon, get up! We have to run!"

Dragon shook his head, eyes still fixed on the troll, "I can't. My legs are so numb. You must have really screwed it up…"

"No…" Siegfried's eyes showed the urgency he was feeling. He couldn't fight the troll now. He'd need both of his arms for this kind of battle.

Dragon chuckled ruefully, "I guess we're both even now, Siegfried. I've immobilized your arm, and you've nearly made me into a paraplegic. We've secured our own downfall, friend."

"No! Not like this! You don't really mean that, do you Dragon? You're better than that!" Siegfried removed Dragon's axe from his belt and tossed it to him, "Do something when the time is right."

Dragon nodded and smirked, "I was only being dramatic. I'm not going to die here!"

"Let's see how they handle this challenge," Olcadan took a seat on the high wall, crossing his legs and folding his arms with intense interest on the predicament he was witnessing.

Up in the upper seats, there was an empty spot where two sisters had been sitting. Cassandra and Sophitia ran down the stairs and quickly as they could.

"Sis! Come on! You're lagging! We have to help Siegfried!" Cassandra grabbed her sister's wrist and tugged. In her other hand was her shield. They got to the last row of seats and prepared to jump down into the battleground, but two guard carrying spears stopped them.

"You're to going to interfere! Romanov wants this to be 2 on 1, not four on one. Those are the rules."

"Rules!?" Cassandra yelled, "Rules my ass! This isn't even a match!"

"If you interfere then I assure you Romanov will have you killed as well. It's how things work here."

Sophitia held her sister's hand, holding her back, "Don't do it, Cassandra. We'll both regret it."

"But Siegfried…" Cassandra lowered her head. She looked at her shield. She had a plan, "Hey, Sis! Where's your shield?"

Siegfried got in front of Dragon, his Glam raised defensively. "I'm going to hold him off the best I can. If I get him riled up enough then maybe he'll come after me and ignore you. Then you think of something."

Dragon nodded.

The troll swung its massive fist back and forth, trying to club Siegfried out of the way. The first and second time, Siegfried ducked under the attack, but he tried to block the third time. The club of a fist hit Glam, and then the impact sent Glam slamming into Siegfried's body, and in turn sending in flying off to the side.

Siegfried coughed up blood and groaned in pain. He looked up to see that the troll had made its advance on Dragon. Dragon tightened the grip on his axe and prepared to defend himself, but Siegfried came back to defend him. He wildly swung his blade in wide motions, trying to slice open and dismember the troll. He managed to slice the troll up very severely, but the troll never relented.

The troll swung again, this time with a downward fist. Siegfried raised his Glam to block. The fist slammed on the sword. Immediately, Siegfried could feel the strain of all the weight he was trying to hold up, but he would have broken his back had it not been for Olcadan's training. It was a test of strength between the troll's fist and Siegfried's defense.

Then, in a surprising quick attack, the troll lifted off his fist from the sword, throwing Siegfried off balance. It quickly swung with its other arm, knocking Siegfried's sword out of his grip. Glam slid along the ground away from Siegfried. The troll began throwing fists at Siegfried, forcing him to retreat. The troll slammed its fist into the ground, turning it into rubble. Siegfried stumbled, and immediately saw a large arm swinging straight for him. He raised his only arm to block and shut his eyes.

"Let 'em fly!" Siegfried opened his eyes upon hearing Cassandra's voice. Two objects whizzed over his head and smacked into the troll's face. The projectiles dropped to the ground and rolled around, eventually flopping to a stop. They were Cassandra's and Sophitia's shields. He looked behind him into the crowd, and saw Cassandra and Sophitia being apprehended by the guards. Cassandra took her sword out and began cutting at the guards. She looked at Siegfried and yelled as she fought back against the guards.

"Hurry! Do something!"

Another projectile flew, this time from a different direction; this one from Dragon's direction. Dragon's axe lodged itself in the back of the troll's neck, and the blades of air following it sliced it up good. Blood splattered on Siegfried's body.

The troll moaned in pain and began wobbling, disoriented from the sudden pain. But Siegfried could still see plenty of fight left in it, and knew that now was the time to finish it.

_Here's my chance. Now's the perfect chance to try it…_

Siegfried advanced in on the troll and forcefully thrust his palm into the troll's stomach, knocking the air out of it. Then he dug his fingers into the monster's abdomen. He dug them in good, drawing blood. Siegfried drew in a sharp breath and then cried out at the top of his lungs "_Blitzkrieg!_"

A sharp crackling sound came from Siegfried's hand. The air sizzled, and instantly, a crack of thunder ensued. Blue lightning flowed from Siegfried's hand and into the troll's body. The electricity shot out through the troll's back as it hollered in pain. Its body shook uncontrollably, and smoke began to rise from its body. Soon, the noisy troll quieted and stopped moving. Siegfried stopped his attack. He warily waited to see if the monster would move again. If so, he would continue his attack. It did not move. Siegfried let go of the monster and let it topple over like a large tree.

The crowd gasped and began talking amongst themselves excitedly. Siegfried could make out Cassandra's voice from the rest of the murmurs.

"Let go! Now!" Sophitia and Cassandra were being restrained by two guards. They had their knives drawn on the two sisters' throats.

"We warned you! Now let's take you to Romanov, shall we?!"

Up in his private seats, Romanov stood unbelieving, but he also was seething in anger. "What the hell!? How did that happen?!" He turned around and pointed his finger at another one of his servants; a man masked in a joker's mask with a wide-brimmed feather hat, "You! I hired you to be my bodyguard! I now hire you as a fighter too! Go kill those two! Now!"

The man in the wide-brimmed had stood silent and unmoving.

"Well?! What the hell are you waiting for!? Go!"

The masked man took a few, slow steps towards Romanov; his expression hidden behind his mask. He slowly shook his head and brandished his blades…

Siegfried ran to Cassandra and Sophitia, yelling orders at them, "Let them go! Its over! That monster is dead!"

"And so will these two be!"

Cassandra snarled defiantly, "I swear, once I get out…"

"AAAEEEH!" Everyone's attention turned towards the seats under the private balcony at a woman who stood clutching her husband's arm. She looked at the lifeless heap that had just fallen on her. His neck had been sliced all the way around and his neck was red with flowing blood. Romanov had been slain by his own hired hand.

"Romanov!" The guard holding Cassandra exclaimed.

Cassandra was astonished at the sudden turn of events. It seemed like such a random act after what had just transpired. But soon she spoke again, "Ha! Looks like that greedy son of bitch is dead. Too bad, huh? And to think you were taking orders from a stiff."

"Why you little brat!" The guard began shaking in anger and his face flashed a furious red. "I'll kill you anyways! For disrespecting me!"

Siegfried launched himself onto the first row of seats. He stopped just in front of the guard who was threatening Cassandra's life. He stared at him sternly, "Let them both go."

The guard faltered upon seeing Siegfried's eyes. He promptly let go of Cassandra and walked off silent. The other guard holding Sophitia released his grip on her as well and followed his comrade to the exiting tunnels.

"Siegfried…How are you feeling?" Cassandra slowly and gingerly touched his injured shoulder.

Siegfried sighed, "I'm going to be fine. Both my arms are very numb. I can barely move them. Just give it some time and the feeling will come back to them."

"And that lightning…How?" She may have sounded a little worried, but her eyes were full of curiosity.

"My teacher taught me it, Cassandra. What do you think? Like it?" Siegfried smiled and even laughed a little.

Cassandra only nodded and answered with a big smile, "Like it? I love it! It's awesome!"

"Excuse me, you two, but don't you think we should be moving on?" Sophitia nervously looked at the dead body lying on the floor. She caught a brief movement from the top of the private balcony. She looked just to catch a glimpse of a wide-brimmed hat.

Siegfried saw it too. There had to be more going on in this tournament then meets the eye. That had to be it. The prize had to be a fragment of the cursed blade. Only Soul Edge's evil influence could turn something as simple as a tournament into a sight for murder and controversy. "You're right, let's collect the prize and go."

Olcadan watched as the man in the hat took a small box covered in red velvet with him down the stairs.

_Hmm, he didn't take the money…_Olcadan decided to see what was on this masked man's agenda. He could feel a strong, eerie presence radiating from the masked man. He knew he was no normal man. It had been a while since he had fought someone strong…


	21. Chapter 20

**Thanks to Save Manah, heaven-monument and Lightning Samurai for reviewing the last chapter. I really appreciate it. You guys are great!**

**Chapter 20**

The gulls flew overhead as Rock made his way through the docks of the Mediterranean port town. The rings of fishing boat bells and smell of fish were nostalgic to Rock. Back when he was a boy, his father would always take him to the shipping docks of the British Empire to help him carry the large crates full of curio that his father collected and sold.

This port town seemed no different from the ones back in the British Empire. Fishermen still busily sold their catches to the market shoppers and laborers stowed away large crates of wares onto large shipping freighters.

But Rock had no time to waste on reminiscing. _…I'll be waiting for you in the Mediterranean Sea…_Cervantes was waiting out there. Rock knew that his presence was not what the pirate wanted, but Cervantes would have to deal with it. His problem was with Rock now, as it always should have been. Cervantes's problem with Rock started the moment the pirate killed his parents.

Rock's muscles tensed in anticipation as he imagined the pirate's skull being crushed in his bare hands. "I'm so close, you bastard. You're mine."

At the far end of the shipping yards one boat rocked gently on the ocean waters. Rock saw a young woman lying on the yardarms with her legs crossed casually in front of her. Her face was covered by her long, raven hair.

Rock approached the ship, curious if this lone sailor would be willing to take him into the Mediterranean Sea.

"Hey! You there!" Rock hollered, "Would you be willing to give me passage into the sea?"

The young woman turned her head and looked down at Rock from her perch, "Yeah, I can, actually, for a price." Miser smiled greedily.

"How much do you want?"

"That depends, how far do you wanna go?"

"I don't know. I was supposed to meet an _acquaintance. _I don't know specifically where he would be waiting."

"I see…" Miser smirked, "Well, I'll take you to your 'acquaintance', and you can pay me when you get there, got it?"

Rock adjusted his helmet, "Got it."

XOOOOOX

"Where is the Dread Pirate?" Nightmare gazed towards the horizon from the broken chapel.

Tira was behind him, playing with the raven perched on her shoulder, "Master, do you want me to find go him?"

"No, I see no point in sending you. You've been too preoccupied with other things. You haven't been of much use to me, Tira. Soon, if you disappoint me any further, I'll have to devour your soul."

Tira was taken aback at what Nightmare had just told her, "What! How can you say that?!" The raven flew off her shoulder at Tira's outburst, "I've done everything that you've asked of me! I've told you that that man no longer has the Soul Edge! I am the one who brought the Dread Pirate to you! I've done everything you've asked of me!"

Nightmare turned a deadly gaze towards the livid Tira, "And you've accomplished your tasks with mediocre results.

"You came across Siegfried, yet you did not slay him. You failed to burn the fear of me into the pirate, and therefore he has become disobedient, and now he is acting on his own accord.

"I expected more from a killer, Tira. You are not supposed to be a little girl, you are a killer; act like one."

Tira couldn't believe it. Nightmare had never spoken to her like this. It was rare that he ever spoke to her at all, and so instead of taking this as a scolding, Tira finally decided to take it as advice from her master. She cautiously approached the dark knight and went onto her knees. She wrapped her arms around his knee and placed her cheek on his thigh, "You are right master," she closed her eyes longingly and rubbed her cheek against his leg, "Please, let me redeem myself. What can I do for you?"

Disgusted by her affection, Nightmare kicked her away. Tira stumbled back and fell on her rear, yet on her face was a smile of pleasure.

"Go and find the Dread Pirate again. I want him back here now."

"Yes Master!" Tira responded brightly. A mist settled in and she was gone again.

Nightmare did not turn his gaze back to her even for an instant. He stared across the land before him towards the orange sunset. He felt an unsettling and disturbing sensation, and he didn't like it.

As he thought, a red orb materialized before the horizon and flew towards the old chapel. It looped and twirled as it flew, a trail of petrified body parts following.

Nightmare lifted his phantom sword into the air and the Charade melded with it, returning to its home. Nightmare looked into the empty eye of the Phantom Soul Edge, "Things are not as they seem. There is more at work here than just me. But what…"

XOOOOOX

The ocean salt spray dried Rock's face, but Rock paid it no attention.

Miser strolled along the deck, her hands placed behind her back. The two hadn't spoken to each other during the time. Miser didn't want to accidentally let Rock know that she was keen on everything he was up to. Abyss had told her to act when the time was right, and that Rock would be the decoy for their plan.

…_Attack when least expected…_

But did Abyss really believe the Dread Pirate would be so easy to attack from behind? Miser was having a hard time believing that.

_…Use Rusty Wing…_

Miser shook her head as she thought back to Abyss's instructions, _I hope you're right, Abyss. I don't want to lose my head over this._

It was not long until Cervantes's fog rolled in. Rock straightened up, ready for anything to come. The thick, soupy cloud surrounded Miser's stolen ship. The veil of fog was impenetrable, but there was one object in the distance that somehow seemed to slice through the fog. The large dark shape became more defined as it neared Miser's ship.

As it came closer, the hull of a hulking ship became clear. Lanterns of glowing golden light hung on the sides of the ship. The creaking of the boat broke the silence that the fog had brought, and the wind seemed to carry a faint whisper and quiet laughter. Then the rigging came into view. Rock could make out a jumble of yardarms, masts, and booms that made up the rigging, but one part of the rigging stood out the most.

The large, pale white sail of the ghost ship. It was the disquieting color of a dead man, and while the pirate ships in stories had sails brandishing the skull and crossbones, this sail was, unsettlingly, empty. Empty, as if it was a canvas for your soul to be painted on once the ghosts of this ship took your life.

The Dread Pirate chuckled loud and threateningly. The ghost ship came to a slow halt only meters away beside Miser's. Rock looked across to the ghost ship through the fog to stare eye to eye a band of ghoulish spirits. Glowing a sickly green and their flesh falling off their bones, this band of ghouls during their lifetime were not saints, to say the least. They had been sentenced to an eternity in Hell, but it seems their old captain pardoned them from that fate.

The band of ghouls suddenly split down the middle to allow a path for the Dread Pirate himself. Cervantes casually walked to the front, arms crossed confidently. He motioned for a pair of spirits to bring a long, wooden plank. They dropped the plank between the two ships. Cervantes motioned with his finger towards Rock, telling him to cross.

"Cross, Englishman, let's just hope this piece of driftwood will hold your weight." Cervantes chuckled to himself.

"Go to hell you bloody pirate!" Rock ran and leapt over the side of the ship, attempting to jump across the gap between the two ships. Obviously, his great weight stopped him short. Rock slammed into the side of the ghost ship, and he would have fallen into the brine had he not took a strong grip of the ghost ship's side railing.

He struggled to pull himself up with his heavy gear holding him down. Just as he felt his grip slipping, Rock felt several cold, bony hands grabbing him by the wrist. He looked up to find that a few spirits had taken his hands and were assisting him up, but not all too gently. As he was pulled closer into the ship, the ghouls tossed him onboard like the day's catch.

Rock landed on his face but quickly turned over to meet the stares and mocking laughter of the spirits. Cervantes began to make his way towards Rock, shoving ghouls left and right out of his way. He stopped in front of Rock, and rubbed his beard, "Welcome aboard the Adrian, land lover."

"Ahoy!" The ghouls cheered mockingly in unison.

"Arrgh! Go to Hell!" Rock got to his feet and swung his mace, swatting away a handful of ghouls like flies, sending them flying off and into the briny blue.

Rock was now enraged. He crushed the ghouls left and right with his mace like a madman, which he was at that moment. As the last of the spirits were either crushed by Onslaught or batted overboard, Rock screamed out, "Dread Pirate! This is your fate as well!" He took a ghoul by the head and tore it off, showing it to Cervantes, "See that?!"

Cervantes merely scoffed, "Humph, he was dead already. It's not that impressive."

"Then let me show you real pain!" Rock charged and swung Onslaught downward. Cervantes dodged the sluggish attack with ease. He made his way up to the top of a yardarm, where he stared down at Rock with curious eyes.

"Tell me, Englishman, what is your business with me? I noticed that ever since we ran into one another back on the Silk Road, you have been out for my blood. Why are you so bitter?"

"You don't remember?! You bastard! You killed my mother and father! You sank our ship we traveled on over thirty years ago! You tossed me overboard and left me for dead!"

Cervantes tapped on his chin for a moment, "Hmm…I can't recall. But if what you say is true, then I must have failed to kill you. Let me throw you into the briny deep again! But this time, only your body will wash away, you will leave your soul here!"

And with that Cervantes swooped down like a hawk, his blades pointed forward. Rock was ready, or so he thought. The impact Cervantes had on the big man nearly sent Rock overboard, but Rock's size held him steady enough.

As Cervantes ricocheted off Rock's guard and landed off to the side, his stance ready for another attack. Rock had slid back a several feet after being hit by Cervantes, but he stood fast and had his eyes glued on Cervantes. Rock held his mace to his side and let his grip slip to the end of his the handle.

At first he began to turn, dragging his mace across the deck, but then he lifted it and began to spin and spin violently, making his way to Cervantes.

Cervantes did not panic. He waited for the perfect moment and jumped into the sky. He torpedoed back down in a vortex of flame, straight towards the top of Rock's skull.

Rock could feel this coming, but the momentum from his swinging mace was too much to stop quickly. Cervantes came spiraling down into Rock's head, slamming him into the deck of the ship resulting in an explosion of flames and splintered wood.

Cervantes rose out of the splintered deck and peered down into the hole and into the cabins below. If Rock was still alive, then Cervantes would have seen.

But Rock was careful. He was alive; his helmet had protected him from serious damage. He waited motionlessly for the dust to clear so that he could catch just a glimpse of Cervantes. And then he spotted Cervantes's boot.

Cervantes laughed. He could hear labored breathing in the hole, "Come out, Englishman! You can not hide from me on my own ship! You can't beat me! You lack the ability!"

Suddenly, the dust quickly parted, and what came flying upward was Rock, his head held steady as he collided into Cervantes's jaw. "You shut your damn mouth, pirate!"

Cervantes's lower jaw grinded against his upper and the impact sent him upwards and backwards and onto his back. Rock landed on deck and fixed his helmet on his head, "Steel on bone hurts, doesn't it!" He still held his mace in his hands, and he advanced on the pirate.

On the other boat, Miser watched the battle intently. "C'mon, let's see you slip up, Dread Pirate…" Standing on deck on a boat floating in the middle of the sea with the wind blowing her headband, Miser looked like a true pirate. She was beginning to get anxious. Could she fight like a pirate? Was she good enough? These questions in her head broke her normally cool demeanor. A drip of sweat rolled down her forehead and she swallowed nervously.

"I'm good enough…I know I am…"

It was true. She possessed skills many swordsmen lacked, and she had never lost a duel, but she had never killed before on her own. The first life she had ever taken was under Abyss's command and with the aid of her partner, Greed. Would she be capable of killing the infamous Cervantes de Leon on her own? She hoped so.

Rock raised his mace and prepared to crush Cervantes into a bloody pulp. Just as the mace came swinging down, Cervantes vanished in a quick flash. He reappeared behind Rock with his blades held back and ready to strike at Rock's back. "Say goodnight, Englishman. You lose!"

Rock glanced back. There was no way he could avoid it. He cringed and prepared for the worst.

Cervantes grinned sadistically as he hissed those words. He loved stabbing his victims through both the kidneys. It was next to slitting throats on his list. It had to be so painful, he thought, and one would not die immediately. This big Englishman was going to squirm, and Cervantes was looking forward to it.

"I wanted only the German boy, not some oaf with no skill whatsoever. Die!"

But before he could deliver the final blow, Cervantes felt a sudden sharp pain in his back.

"Ahhggghhh! What is this?" He looked back and reached back, feeling for where the pain was coming from, and he found…

Miser let out a relieved breath as she watched her giant shuriken, Rusty Wing, imbedded itself deep into Cervantes's back. But she couldn't relax just yet. She drew her katana, Red Crow, and charged Cervantes. She held her blade above her head with the end pointed at the pirate's back.

"Yaaahhh!" Miser came dangerously close to killing Cervantes. She was incredibly quick, to Cervantes's surprise.

Cervantes reacted quickly and turned on his hip to shoot. He fired a shot, but the pain in his back threw off his aim and the bullet ricocheted off the hand guard of Red Crow, knocking it out of Miser's hand. The katana dropped to the ground and the sway of the boat sent it sliding across the wet deck.

Miser gasped as she felt shards of metal pierce her hand. He clutched it briefly before realizing Cervantes was about to fire again. She hastily made a quick dash for her sword.

Cervantes fired shot after shot after the raven-haired women, but she somehow evaded them all despite her legs flailing from slipping on the slick deck.

"Enough!" Cervantes reached back and yanked Rusty Wing out of his back. He hurled it towards Miser, who had just knelt down to pick up her sword.

Miser felt the same pain that rushed through Cervantes's back go through her thigh. She dropped her katana again, just barely after she had just picked it back up.

"Ahh…" Miser fell to her knees and looked down at her thigh. She rubbed her stinging flesh and felt the blade of Rusty Wing miserably. She began to cry softly to herself, "I do not want to die…"

Cervantes sighed satisfyingly. He raised his Nirvana again and aimed perfectly at the back of Miser's head, "Foolish woman. That is how all women should be: on their knees."

Before he could fire a shot, Rock's voice boomed behind him, "Stop it! Have you forgotten about me?!" Cervantes looked back to find giant Rock looming behind him. Rock fiercely took him by the neck and hurled him into the thick side of a mast. The side of the mast splintered and cracked. Rock had thrown the pirate incredibly hard, and Cervantes was now at Rock's mercy.

Miser looked at the fight behind her. She felt a great amount of hopelessness lift off her as she watched Rock throw Cervantes like a ragdoll. She wasn't going to die…

But just as she thought that she heard someone land behind her, and saw a bladed metal ring come over her head and place itself level with her neck. Then she felt a sharp, terrible pain go through her neck before her world went a deathly black.

Tira watched Miser's head roll across the deck with pleasure. She giggled maniacally before sticking her arm through her ring blade and carried it like a hoop towards Rock.

Rock stopped his beating on Cervantes when he heard light footsteps approach from behind him. He turned to see a young girl with a wide grin on her face. Then he saw Miser's decapitated body and the blood on the girl's metal hoop. It clicked fairly quickly.

"No…You…What did you do?" Rock was stunned to see that such a young girl had just killed, and smiling at that.

"Hello," Tira waved at Rock innocently. Then her expression changed to a murderous stare, "Goodbye."

Rock heard the cock of a pistol and looked back. He ended up staring down the barrel of Cervantes's pistol. He saw a brief flash of gunpowder in the barrel before he heard the bang.

Luckily, Rock lowered his head by reflex, taking the bullet shot with his helmet. But the impact of such a close range shot with such a powerful pistol shattered a chunk of his helmet, sending shards of metal flying into his head and face.

Rock stumbled back and fell to the deck with a loud thud. He raised himself up onto his hands and knees. His blood poured down his face. He reached up and rubbed his face. He looked at his hand and found it covered in blood. What he also found when he looked at his hand was that it was dark in his right eye. He frantically looked about, but his right eye wasn't capable of seeing anything.

A rush of fear overwhelmed Rock and he got to his feet to stumble across the ship to the side railing. He wrapped his arms around the railing and turned to find Cervantes and the girl. The girl was still there, but Cervantes was nowhere to be seen.

His good eye darted back and forth across the width of the deck searching for Cervantes. He quickly realized one more thing…

Cervantes came in from Rock's right, his blind side. With Soul Edge, he swung at Rock's neck.

Rock had realized that he would come from the right, that Cervantes already inferred that his right eye was shot. He felt the breeze of a swinging blade, and it felt to be coming towards his neck. Rock took a grip of the railing and lifted himself as he jumped, taking the attack to his chest, rather than his throat. Soul Edge sliced clean across his chest, and the burning, excruciating stinging of the cursed blade forced Rock to scream out loud in pain, something Rock had never done before in his life.

The force of the blow sent him over the railing and he plunged into the cold, dark sea.

Cervantes looked overboard and into the sea. He aimed his pistol down into the depths of the briny sea and fired several shots, just as he had so many years ago, "One final bullet…" He charged his energy into his pistol and into the last bullet, "This one won't miss." He fired a red hot bullet that pierced deep into the water. He saw a tinge of red tint rise up in the water from where he shot. He was satisfied.

"Now, Cervantes, that I saved your pathetic ass, I expect you to come with me." Tira was behind Cervantes, a determined look on her face. She wanted desperately to do her master's bidding and gain his approval.

"Oh? Really? I won't be going anywhere by force, girl!" Cervantes whipped around and swung his arm, attempting to strike Tira. She dodged easily.

"You know Master gets upset when you disobey orders," Tira's voice was beginning to falter, not because of the threat Cervantes posed to her, but because of the fear of what would happen if she let her master down again. "Master doesn't like it when you go off on your own. He wants you there, where he can keep an eye on you."

"Master master master! Is that all you can think about, you stupid girl?! Listen here, and listen well; Nightmare is your master, not mine! I am only in this partnership to get what I want! And nothing else! Especially not serving Nightmare like his lackey! You got that!"

Tira scowled, "No wonder Master doesn't trust you…"

"So Nightmare doesn't trust me, eh? Well, tell me what he thinks of this," Cervantes reached into his coat. At first, Tira flinched and readied to strike, but she soon found out that it was nothing to be afraid of.

Cervantes held out his hand, four fragments of Soul Edge glowing in his palm. He offered the fragments to Tira, who was stunned to see him parting with the fragments so easily. But she did not protest. If this proved Cervantes's loyalty to Nightmare, then she would take it. Surely Nightmare would not scold her for failing to bring back the pirate now, not after he just proved which side he played on by handing over the fragments.

"You did a wise move by handing these over, pirate. Master will be pleased," Tira said authoritatively.

"Just shut up and leave me alone. Go back to your Master, stay out of my sight." Cervantes walked away from Tira, calling the fog back to play.

Tira giggled giddily as she imagined her Master's reaction when she showed him the shards she had received from Cervantes. Her mist came and took her away.

Cervantes stood silently at the bow of his ship with his hands placed behind his back. His pain had subsided. Pain for him was only a temporary thing, not at all a long lasting effect. He looked almost solemn, but he began grinning.

"Ho ho! Stupid girl! There's only one reason I need her _Master_. Once he restores Soul Edge, I'll pry it from his pathetic hands."

He turned back to the large gaping hole on his deck. By his command, the ghost ship began to repair itself. He did a quick scan of his boat, and his eyes settled on Miser's body.

"Hmm…Something foul is afoot; I can smell it in the air…"

XOOOOOX

When Rock awoke he half expected to find the face of a native woman from the New World smiling down at him, but instead he looked up into a vast, cloudless expanse of blue sky.

This was all so, so familiar. Seeing other lives ended on a boat, being knocked overboard by Cervantes, and hearing shots being fired at him from underwater. It was like he was reliving that day from so long ago. Except this time the bullet hit, as Rock found out when he reached to touch a burning wound on his left shoulder.

He felt the tide of sea water splash on the bottoms of his feet. He tilted his head to look at his feet. He was on a beach, and before the beach was the Mediterranean Sea.

_I'm on an island…_

Mustering up all the strength he had left, he forced himself to sit up. As he did, he coughed up more water from his lungs.

He thought back to everything that happened, and somehow he knew that things were bigger than they seemed. There were bigger forces working. There was more to the search for Soul Edge than just a deranged knight and a repenting German on the hunt for fragments and each other's lives.

Somehow…just somehow, Rock knew this. Perhaps it was his soul being so near death that he knew this. Perhaps his soul learned more in near death than he did in life, but Rock knew that one thing was certain…

_Siegfried has no idea what he is involved in…He must know…It is up to me…_


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Despite wanting to leave the town before anything else happened, Siegfried and the two sisters ended up in a clinic after Siegfried had collapsed from fatigue. He was fully aware still, but his body wasn't moving anywhere.

The clinic smelled of lavender and ointments. Siegfried sat on a bed weaved out of straw. The mattress itself must have been filled with soft down, as Siegfried sank into it several inches as he sat on it.

Cassandra warily eyed a young nurse as she tended to Siegfried's wound. The nurse had a little smile on her lips as she did, and Cassandra didn't like that. But out of courtesy, Cassandra kept quiet; after all, the nurses and doctors were taking care of Siegfried.

But Siegfried wasn't the only one who was in the care of the clinic. Dragon lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He still could barely move his legs. He was wondering if he regretted ever pushing Siegfried so far. It may have cost him the use of his legs…_No…I do not regret it…I enjoyed the battle. What I got is just a consequence of losing…But I will not lose to him again. Next time we meet and I'm on my feet, I will defeat him._

The young nurse tightened the bandage and lightly patted Siegfried's shoulder, "How's that?"

"Just fine, thank you."

The nurse was getting too comfortable with him, as Cassandra thought.

"…Hey, nurse, would you mind giving us some alone time for a bit?" Cassandra suddenly spoke up, and she asked in a surprisingly courteous tone despite the fact the nurse had just had her hands all over Siegfried, at least in Cassandra's perspective.

The nurse shook her head, "Uh uh, the doctor told me to stay here to keep an eye on him."

"Oh come on, please?" Cassandra's tone was surprising to hear, and Siegfried couldn't help but crack a smile when he heard her. Cassandra somehow noticed his grinning and looked back and winked at him. Siegfried instantly stopped smiling mind filling with guesses at why she had winked.

Siegfried quickly turned away, trying to hide his reddening cheeks. It was odd; it seemed that only Cassandra was capable of making him blush, Siegfried wondered why. Was it because he was attracted to her? If so, she would have been the first female who had caught his attention in a very long time.

Back when he was a teenager he would always go here and there flipping up the town girls' skirts, getting both a laugh and a good look at their unmentionable parts. Of course, he would only do it with his fellow friends, never by himself. He could never muster up the boldness to do it alone. He knew from experience that a female's fury could sting just as bad as any blade. It was his mother's discipline that taught him that.

But after the incidents that turned his life upside down, he had become a changed man. Women never once entered his mind, other than the ones he remembered slaughtering in his sleep.

But after he had met Cassandra, he felt changed, as if a cloudy veil that once shrouded his life was lifted and a new world lay before him. He felt human again. After all, his mother had a saying: "Love is human." Siegfried understood it little, even after he grew into a man. But now it was making sense.

What was it that Cassandra held over him? Was it her looks? Her crystal clear eyes? Her small round nose and short blonde hair? Or was it her lips and cheeks that would puff into round balloons whenever she'd pout?

It may have been her personality; her defiance and strong courage that could match that of any man's. Yet underneath her tough exterior she was still a girl who wanted what every girl wanted: a man to love.

Siegfried was sure of one thing. He admired Cassandra. It could just be his admiration that caused him to act differently around her, but it didn't matter. Siegfried decided that she was different from other woman, and she had changed him for the better.

"Look, he looks great to me. I mean, the color's already coming back to his cheeks!" Cassandra teased.

The nurse giggled then sighed, "Fine, I'll leave. Shout if you need anything."

After the nurse left the room, Siegfried turned back to Cassandra and took a seat down on his bed. Cassandra stood for a moment and gazed at Siegfried. She enjoyed the eye candy sitting in front of her. If only she could run her hands all over him, slow and smooth. She wanted to feel his warmth on her hands. Where on his body was the warmest? She had a good idea…

After a minute or so of getting an eye full of him and fantasizing, Cassandra forced herself to look away. Her cheeks began burning and for a second she was afraid she was actually going to start drooling. She nervously began twirling a lock of her hair around her finger, trying to settle herself down.

_But how can I…He's just sitting right there…Almost invitingly…_

Siegfried in the meanwhile looked as if he was in deep thought, hunched over with his hands clasped in front of him, when in reality he was trying his best to get the sinful thoughts out of his head. His eyes involuntarily looked up and he caught a glimpse of the Greek's finely shaped legs. They looked so firm yet he was sure her skin was soft to the touch, and or some reason he liked the fact that she wore pantyhose over them. He found it attractive. He imagined it, laying her gently down and slowly stripping it off, wrapping his hands firmly around her legs…

_NO NO NO! How many times have Mother and Father told you not to think like that! Women do not appreciate it. And there are more important things to…_

Siegfried's train of thought was interrupted as Cassandra gently took a seat beside him in bed. She let out a long, tired sigh.

Siegfried could feel his palms becoming sweaty. As hard as it was, he restrained himself. Even so, he still felt his hormones trying to take over.

His salvation finally came in the form of a tall, old man with dark bags under his eyes who walked into the room. He was a priest, by the looks of it. In his hand he carried a medium sized red box, "You are Siegfried Schtauffen, the winner of the tournament?"

"Yes, I am, Father…" Siegfried had never seen or spoken to or even been addressed by a priest for years. He was more than a little nervous at this moment. He almost felt like hiding his blood-stained hands behind his back.

"Ahh, Siegfried Schtauffen, a strong German name indeed…Befitting of you, my son," the priest commented on Siegfried's name.

Siegfried pulled up the courage to speak, "What is in that box of yours?"

The priest tilted his head and gave a big, friendly smile, "Why your award, of course!" He handed out the box to Siegfried, who took it in return. He opened it and was amazed to see a bounty of coins shimmering like little golden stars in the sunlight.

"Whoa! I've never seen so much money before!"

Siegfried winced at Cassandra's sudden outburst. He rubbed his ear and smiled, "Yes. Neither have I."

"Yes, it is quite a reward. I'm only sorry your other prize was stolen. But still, congratulations to you, my son. You have proven yourself a strong warrior of God." The priest extended his hand to Siegfried, "Father Palumbo, pleased to meet you." Siegfried nervously shook the priest's hand. The priest's grip was strong, and he wasn't about to let Siegfried go.

Siegfried stalled at this point, "I…I'm sorry."

Father Palumbo raised a brow, "Excuse me?"

"I shouldn't even be speaking to you. I have no right to be here in the presence of a man of God."

Father Palumbo gave a cooked, goofy grin that only a man as old as him could pull off, but in an instant it straightened, "Hm…I sense tension in you, my son. I see in your eyes fear and uncertainty. As a priest of the Catholic Church, it is my duty to aid fellow followers in need. I will not let you live in sorrow, my son."

"I'm sorry, Father, but I no longer consider myself Christian. I have sinned beyond forgiveness."

"No one is beyond forgiveness, Siegfried." The priest grinned friendlily, "Come to church and pray for forgiveness, my son."

Siegfried shook his head and tried to pull away, "I'm sorry, I must go. My friends and I have important business to take care of, now if you'll excuse me, Priest Palumbo. Come, Cassandra, let's go and find Sophitia."

The priest watched Siegfried's eyes turn to Cassandra. Suddenly, the priest pulled Siegfried in violently and took a firm grip of Siegfried's shirt collar. He clenched it tight and spoke in a sharp hiss, "You mean her! Her, a friend? That pagan, a friend of a good Christian like you! Listen, Siegfried, I witnessed your fight. That beast you fought, it is people like her who bring monsters like those into the world!" He pointed a shaking finger at Cassandra, who stood shocked. "We need men like you during these times of fear and death, Siegfried. The Azure Knight has returned, don't you see? The church could use a warrior of God like you. These are dark times, and if you wish to make it through, then fight for our side, Siegfried!"

"What?!" Now Siegfried returned the priest's anger, "What man of God are you! What man of the cloth would say such a thing!" Siegfried paused for a moment to regain his composure, "Priest Palumbo, do you know what I have learned during my years as a sinner? I learned that Christians tend to be intolerant of others who do not share their same beliefs. They believe that their ideals are the only right ones. Well, what I've been through has taught me differently. I've been through Hell and back; I've seen the gods, and I've even seen the great almighty God, but I tend not to put my life in the hands of higher powers. I will follow the path that God has set for us, but I will not throw my life to Him. I will not dedicate my life to a God that only watches His people live, because I know now that He does not lead us. We must lead ourselves. This is now _my _religion, Priest Palumbo." And with that Siegfried yanked himself away from the priest's grip and went to stand by Cassandra's side.

"You know I don't think that way of you, don't you Cassandra?" Siegfried's tone was soft and apologetic, as if he was apologizing for the priest's outburst.

"Of course, Sieg. And don't worry, I'm used to that by now. Christianity is spreading in Greece too. There's no room in this new world for the old beliefs anymore. But it's not like I was all that religious anyways." Inside her, it impressed Cassandra that Siegfried could stand up for his own beliefs so strongly. She was proud of him.

"I'm sorry for that."

"It's not like it's your fault, Sieg." Cassandra shrugged it off.

"_Sieg_? Why are you calling me that?" Siegfried had an amused yet confused grin on his face.

"Oh whoops. Fine then, _Siegfried, _Leave it to a knight to be so formal…" Her little teasing was enough to get his blood rushing again. But once again, the priest took Siegfried's attention away from her.

"Even if you have forsaken the Christian faith, Siegfried, you know something must be done about these monsters roaming our beloved Earth. You agree, do you not? You can still help cleanse our world."

Siegfried responded, but he kept his face turned towards Cassandra. "You're right. I completely agree, but I'll cleanse this earth not for God, but for His people. I'm tired of seeing death. You can consider this as my service to God if _you _want, Priest Palumbo, if it pleases you to think so."

"That is all good and well, but before I leave I would recommend you get a new set of armor. I doubt you'll last long out there without it," the priest turned towards the door, his hands behind his back, "From the finest of blacksmiths, and free of charge, Siegfried. It was a gift from the Church to you. It is befitting of a holy knight, if you so wish to be called one anymore." The priest left with quiet shuffles of his shoes on the wooden floor. He left an uncomfortable silence as he left.

XOOOOOX

_I must know what has happened to that woman!_

Sophitia walked hurriedly through the streets to where Raphael had held his celebration several nights ago. She went by herself and left Siegfried and Cassandra alone. Whatever happened in that mansion was only going to be her problem, not theirs.

Wrapped in a clean white cloth was the small blade of the woman who had saved her life so many years ago and Sophitia prayed while clutching it tightly in her hands.

As expected, when she arrived she found several priests blessing the property. It had been nearly a week and still they were trying to cleanse it of any of the Devil's influence. Sophitia knew there was no way she was going to be allowed to enter now. She just had to wait.

Dusk began to settle in and the priests were nowhere to be seen. Sophitia prayed one last time and entered the silent mansion.

It was dark inside. Oddly enough the room in which the feast had been set out was still in shambles, but the room was bare of bodies or any stains of blood.

_Why would the priests clean out the bodies but just leave this room as it is? Did they even clean out the bodies? It seems like they just…disappeared._

Sophitia walked along the length of the dining table. In the dimming light of the room she could still make out the food left on the table. There were rolls and roasted hen that were beginning to mold and rot. The stench of spoiling cheese filled the air, and Sophitia had to cover her nose with a fresh cloth. In the few wine glasses that still stood unharmed was a thick, red liquid. The glasses were stained now with it, and it seemed that the liquid was about to solidify into some kind of jelly like substance. Sophitia had an idea what the liquid was, but the thought made her retch.

She picked up her pace and made her way to the end of the room to a large wall on which a large painting of a desolate plain in which a dinner table is set and sitting at the table were men and women drinking red wine that was just dripping down the sides of their mouths. She had to hurry now. Soon the diminishing light would disappear entirely and she'd be as blind as a bat after that.

She hastily began rummaging through the room, looking for any other items of the female ninja. In her hustle, she accidentally stumbled on her own feet and hit a wall. The brief shaking pain in her head subsided shortly after, but the wall didn't stop shaking. Sophitia collected herself and looked up at the wall warily. After rumbling for no more than a few seconds, the wall suddenly moved and slid off to the side, revealing a straight set of steep stairs leading down into a murky room. The stairs were lined with dim torches that burned on as if by magic and as Sophitia made her way down into the room she found that the walls of the room were lit with the same torches.

She slowly walked into the room. In the faint light of the room she could make out a large, dark object in the middle of the room. It seemed to be a table of some sort, and another object lay across the length of the table.

Sophitia inched closer and closer to table, and with each step the faint light began to reveal the dark mass laying on the table…

XOOOOOX

With several fluid motions of her hand, Taki sealed away the spirit of Gel-o-Fury. Once that was finished, she looked upon her former master. He lay motionless, his old features highlighted with shadows. His face was still, but it did not look of someone who had died in peace. His brows were furrowed and there was a frown upon his face. He died frustrated and upset. Taki couldn't help but pray for him as she looked upon him. He had trained her and raised her, and even though they had parted ways and become enemies, she could not forget that.

She stood up to leave, but just as she did another feeling hit her. It was like the sensation she felt when Gel-o-Fury struck. But this force was much stronger. Chills went up and down her spine. It was so far across the seas, and even further across the continent, but yet it could still be sensed from Japan.

Taki could not leave this presence alone. As a ninja and a demon slayer, it was her duty to seal away this new entity.

And so she traveled across the sea and the continent. She arrived in Europe, where she had felt the presence originating from. But it wasn't here any longer. All Taki came across was a lone man radiating with demonic energy.

"Stop here, woman," he smiled as he ordered her. He pointed his thin sword at her threateningly, "Abyss doesn't want you around any longer. You pose too much of a threat to him."

"Demon! You will not stop me!" Taki brandished her two blades and struck.

Raphael moved away so quickly, it was if he vanished. His voice rang through the empty field, "You're quick! But so am I! Let us dance!"

He stopped moving briefly and allowed Taki to spot a glimpse of him. But as quickly as he stopped he moved again, once again vanishing from sight. He charged her like the wind, and he attempted to strike with a thrust of his rapier straight through her chest. Fortunately, Taki had the reflexes that naturally came with being a ninja. She too did a disappearing act, only hers wasn't a trick of speed. She reappeared behind Raphael and wrapped an arm around his throat with a blade ready to slice it clean.

Raphael only smirked. He quickly and forcefully leapt up into the air, taking Taki along with him. The sudden rush of being pulled forcefully into the air threw Taki off her attack, and she had to let go to land and regain her stance.

Raphael stayed there, levitating in the air. He thrust out his arms and hands like a conductor conducting his band. In one sudden movement, he threw up his head and his hands like a conductor now telling his band to stand. He called out the phrases, "Rise, my symphony of the dead! Rise, and let me hear your symphony!" Upon that command a band of walking skeletons crawled out of the ground like insects to the new spring.

Taki didn't even flinch. She performed several signs with her hands and unleashed a wave of purifying light, completely obliterating the living skeletons, "Demons begone!" She looked up at Raphael, "You're next!"

Raphael groaned under his breath, getting sick of the woman who so defiantly stood against him. He descended back down to the earth like a bolt of lightning. He immediately charged Taki and followed with a pirouette-like kick. Taki took the hit in the stomach and went flying back, landing on her back. Raphael leapt into the air again, and this time came down with his rapier ready to impale the ninja.

Taki lifted her legs in time and kicked away Raphael while he was in midair, sending him falling to the ground. Taki head sprung her way back up to her feet. She quickly ran at Raphael's prone body. Before she could deliver the final blow a band of sharp blades wrapped around her abdomen, stopping her in her tracks. As the blades dug into her skin, she turned around to see that no one other than Ivy was holding the whip of blades.

"Don't you dare and even lay a finger on him, you wench!" Ivy screamed. A sinister smile began forming on her lips. "One little squeeze from my Valentine, and I could split you in half." Taki could feel the blades tightening around her waist.

"Isabella, stop!" Raphael ordered. He got off of his back and approached Taki. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, "Such fair skin. Why, she's almost as beautiful as you, Isabella."

"What!?" A furious Ivy began tightening the blades again. Taki's face contorted in pain as the blades dug deeper.

"Ha ha ha!" Raphael laughed loudly, "Enough, my dear Isabella. You know I was only joking. No one is as gorgeous as you, love."

Ivy smiled cunningly, "I thought so, Raphael. I would have had to discipline you had you not been."

"Anyway, I wouldn't want you to waste any of her blood. It looks so delicious…"

XOOOOOX

Sophitia was aghast to be looking at the nude body of Taki. She lay on the stone table with her wrists and ankles chained. Around her waist were deep lacerations. Her wrists and throat were slit, and running down the side of her neck and her arms were streaks of dried blood. The streaks continued down into grooves on the stone table and ended at the edges of the stone table. On the floor were a few dark spots of dried blood. Apparently, the kunoichi's blood had been drained into some kind of container, possibly a jug for the sick demon-people to pour their drink from.

Sophitia was not particularly close to this kunoichi at all, but just seeing the dead body of someone she knew tore at her heart. She could do nothing but break down. She fell to her knees and laid her head on the stone table. She placed her right hand on Taki's chest, just above her heart, and wrapped her left hand around Taki's. She let herself cry. She wasn't just sobbing, she was bawling.

_Why? Why are things like this happening? Even before, things were never like this. What? What is happening to our world? Is there no more hope for this world?_

Indeed Sophitia was losing hope in everything as her tears drenched and stung her eyes. Her tears flowed down her face and ran along the same grooves that Taki's blood had flowed through, dripping onto the floor at the end of the table, washing away the blotches of dried blood.

As she cried, through her wet and lidded eyes she saw a brilliant light radiating through her eyelids. It became strong and unbearable. Sophitia opened her eyes, and past her tears she saw a dazzling orb of light emanating a magnificent aura of white light. This was like so many years ago; it was what first sent her on her journey seven years ago…

XOOOOOX

"How do you like it, good sir?"

Siegfried examined his new set of armor. It was a sight to behold: armor stronger than iron that shined like polished silver, gold trimming adorning the upper plating, and decorative red feathers lining the shoulder guards. It was more of a piece of art rather than a piece of battle equipment.

"It looks impressive." Siegfried didn't want to sound ungrateful, but it was hard for him to display gratitude for things that were materialistic. But he did appreciate it. He just couldn't show it.

"Hm," the blacksmith added, "It just doesn't look good, my friend, why, that would not be the purpose of armor! But I have managed to create both a work of art and suit of impenetrable armor in one. You're a lucky one to be getting this for free—this would cost anyone else quite a pretty penny."

"You're a talented blacksmith indeed. Thank you." Siegfried bowed his head.

"Well don't just stand there, you must put it on. My wife will come with your new pair of clothing first, though, and then you can try it on. Okay?"

"Yes."

"Siegfried! Siegfried!" A winded Cassandra came skidding to Siegfried's side. She stopped briefly to catch her breath before continuing, "Siegfried, I went back to the clinic to find Sophitia, but all I found was this," she handed Siegfried a slip of paper, "She left a note!"

Siegfried unfolded the note and began reading it.

_My dearest baby sister and good friend Siegfried, _

_I won't be coming with you to wherever you were heading next. I've discovered that I have one last duty to fulfill. You will have to go on without me. I have two last things to tell you, my beloved sister and Siegfried. First of all, you must be extremely careful now. Things are not as they seem. I wish I could tell you what dangers lie ahead, but I have yet to learn that myself. Just be wary. And secondly, take care of each other. Whatever these new dangers are, you will need both of your strengths to make it through. You two need each other now. Never leave each others' side. To do so would put you in risks that you may not be able to get out of. Please, little sister, never leave his side. He needs your support now more than ever. Siegfried, please protect my baby sister. My family can't lose her. I hope that I can see you at the end of all of this, but until the end comes nothing is certain._

_With all my love,_

_Sophitia_

Siegfried stared at the letter briefly before folding it again. _What did she discover?_

Cassandra, however, had a good feeling in her gut that told her this was Hephaestus's order. Her sister had received another oracle from him. The first oracle she had been sent on nearly killed her. She didn't want her sister to leave again on Hephaestus's charge. She wanted badly to stop Sophitia.

She looked to Siegfried for help, and her eyes showed the worry for her sister in them, but Siegfried's eyes showed a stronger purpose that would not be wavered. He was going to go on his own way no matter what.

Cassandra remembered what Sophitia's letter told her. _Take care of each other, never leave his side_. Sophitia wanted them to stick together. Cassandra decided to do as her elder sister had asked. She was going to stay with Siegfried. She just hoped Sophitia would be okay on her own.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Night settled in peacefully as Siegfried and Cassandra left the lights and sounds of the city behind them. The inviting twinkle of lights inside the city restaurants and inns could no longer tempt Cassandra once they left the city and entered the vast expanse of wilderness just beyond the outskirts of town.

The chirp of fall crickets was serene and gave a false sense of peace. Cassandra and Siegfried had no time to stroll and listen to the sounds around them, however. To Cassandra, this was so unfair. First her sister leaves them to who-knows-where, and now she was alone with the man of her fantasies, but needless to say she was not feeling the magic at that particular moment.

Just when the city behind them became a small, indistinguishable jumble of lights behind them, Cassandra's stomach began rumbling. Her face flushed as Siegfried looked at her.

"You hungry?"

Her stomach growled even louder. _Geez, I bet that's not very becoming of a woman…_"I am a little hungry." _Maybe we should've at least had a nice dinner before rushing out of town. _At this point Cassandra was becoming a little more than irritated at Siegfried. _He's always about business. Doesn't he ever put anything before duty? _But Cassandra realized she was only thinking that out of frustration.

Siegfried spotted a small jumble of trees nestled at the bottom of a large slope off in the distance. He pointed towards it, catching Cassandra's attention, "There, we'll rest there. I'll find you some food if you promise to stay in those trees."

The last thing Cassandra wanted to do was sleep outdoors on the cold hard ground after this day, but she was in no mood to bother persuading her companion. She simply nodded, and let out a long yawn.

XOOOOOX

Their little fire burned on steadily as Cassandra watched the dancing flames lick at the cold air. She sat huddled inside Siegfried's cloak, shivering just slightly from the chill of the autumn night. Once again her stomach rumbled, and in response Cassandra grumbled miserably.

Meanwhile, Siegfried was stalking the fields with a club of a stick in one hand and a makeshift torch in the other. His time was limited. Not only because of the fact that his torch would burn out in fifteen minutes or so, but also because he knew Cassandra wasn't in the best of moods, and he knew women could be downright nasty when in a foul mood. But despite hurrying as fast as he could, finding rabbits in the middle of the night in the autumn was not easy.

The moon was hidden behind the clouds, and he had already spent up about ten minutes of his torch. Soon the night would put an end to his hunt. He began sweeping the torch low to the ground, trying to catch a glimpse of anything. As he made his sweep, he caught a glimpse of a small fury thing in the corner of his eye. It ran off just as his torch went out. Siegfried cried out in frustration and threw is wooden bludgeon into the dark night, a complete blind shot. But he smiled. He heard a small crack, "I'd better skin it here. I doubt Cassandra would want to see it herself."

Cassandra was beginning to doze off when Siegfried appeared from the trees with the freshly skinned carcass of a small animal. She stared at it for a second and was beginning to feel sorry for the little thing, but her stomach told her to let it go.

"I only managed to catch one, but you can have it. I'm not very hungry." Siegfried began jamming a stick through the carcass and then held it over the flame. Cassandra watched him roast his kill. Her eyes remained on his arm. She noticed a slight quivering in it, no doubt a result of all the stress he's put it through.

"It'll be finished in moment," he said while rotating the stick. Cassandra only nodded and snuggled into the cloak as a breeze blew past them, blowing the autumn leaves into the flames of their campfire.

XOOOOOX

Cassandra chewed away on the rabbit as Siegfried admired his Glam by the firelight. The gleaming runes on the dark blade reflected in his eyes, and for a moment it seemed as if he was hypnotized by the blade. He ran his thumb along the edge and held up his thumb when the edge drew blood. He held it to the firelight and examined it as if he was looking for any flaws. Taking his sleeve he began to polish the magnificent sword. He sensed Cassandra's eyes on him.

"Is it good? It smells good, that's for sure." He smiled as he saw her chowing away hungrily, "You have a good appetite."

Embarrassed, Cassandra slowed down her eating and proceeded to chew properly before swallowing. A blush crept onto her plump cheeks filled with meat. She swallowed the whole thing and timidly wiped her mouth with her glove, "Not very elegant, am I?"

Siegfried chuckled and began wrapping up his blade, "Don't worry. There's no one here to see you, and I personally don't mind. Remember that I am a man. I have worse habits." He laughed heartily and set down Glam.

Cassandra couldn't help but laugh with him. It was odd to see him in a relaxed mood, especially after all that had happened. But then again, she was the same way. Cassandra was not the type of person to let things pull her down too much. She always found a way to cheer herself back up. Perhaps she had rubbed off on him. She truly hoped so.

"Cassandra?"

Her attention snapped back to him, "Yes?"

Siegfried took a deep breath, as if preparing to say something difficult, "You remind me of your sister right now."

"Sophitia?"

"Has she ever told you about when we first met?"

Cassandra shook her head, eyes showing confusion and interest, "I never even knew you guys had met before. Tell me more, Siegfried."

"Seeing you like this reminds me of how she was. She was quiet, and worried, but whenever she spoke to me she was very kind with her words."

"She had every reason to be worried."

"I know. But even though she had her own problems, she still worried for me more."

Cassandra swallowed and looked away towards the tops of the trees, "Umm…Did you two…become close?"

Siegfried shook his head and looked downwards towards the ground, "No. We only spent one night together, and she was behaving very much like how you are now: quiet yet tense. I left her in the morning. I was worried for her safety. I only brought trouble back then."

"I see. You know, I have a feeling she had something for you."

"What do you mean?"

Cassandra smiled and gazed into the skies, "Oh, nothing. Did you know she's married now?"

"I figured as much. Tell me more, though."

"Well let's see…First of all, her husband's name is Rothion, a blacksmith. He tends to be a little meek and a bit of a pushover sometimes, but I wouldn't want my sister to be married to a domineering ass, so that's good. Shortly after marrying, she had twins, can you believe it?"

"Twins?"

"Yep. Pyrrah and Patroklos. They're about three years old and they're quite the handful."

"Hm, sounds like she's had a wonderful life." Siegfried began staring at the stars as well.

"We go to many festivals as a family and all. It is fun. My favorite festival is Aphrodite's Festival. We go out at night and watch a beautiful meteor shower. The festival was meant to be shared by lovers. I don't have a boyfriend back at home, but I enjoy watching it either way. To be honest I kinda like pretending what it would be like to be watching it with a guy. Ha, you should see Sophitia and Rothion at the festival. No shame really." Cassandra blushed and smiled, a beautiful sight to Siegfried. But then her face went stern and the smile faded into a sorrowful frown.

"…Actually, I can't lie. Sophitia's been struggling lately. Soul Edge has a way of scarring forever those who come in contact with it." Cassandra shifted her gaze to the ground and sighed.

"…How so?"

"Her body is in constant pain from the wounds she received all those years back. She hides it under a smile, but every once in a while she'd break down and cry by me, but she'd never let anyone else see her pain. And then her children…Her children are falling under the temptation of Soul Edge."

"That's terrible!" Siegfried instantly snapped back towards Cassandra and took a seat by her side. He looked her intently in the eye. "So that's why she's out here? Because of her children?"

"Uh huh." Cassandra answered with a nod.

"Poor woman…What about you? Why have you come on this journey?"

"So Sophitia wouldn't have to. She's already done this once, and the first time nearly killed her. I wanted to take the burden this time and save my sister." Cassandra's eyes became sullen and her entire mood seemed to become heavy.

"That's very noble of you, Cassandra." Siegfried sincerely complimented. He placed his hand on her shoulder, hoping for some kind of response.

Finished with her meal, Cassandra tossed the remains onto the ground and took a drink of water from Siegfried's bottle. She wiped her lips and suddenly squeezed in beside Siegfried's side. She took his arm and draped it around her shoulders, "I'm cold." She folded her hands neatly in her lap and then closed her eyes and took in a long, silent breath, "Hold me, please. I don't want to sleep alone tonight."

Siegfried said nothing and pulled her closer. He pulled up his cloak on her and stroked her arm. She was so soft. Her breathing became quiet and steady, each breath pressing her chest to his.

Cassandra was only half asleep. She could still feel his firm body pressed against hers. She took her cheek and rubbed it affectionately on his chest. His deep breathing rocked her back and forth gently, lulling her to sleep, but she didn't want to sleep yet.

"Siegfried, you've never told me…"

Siegfried was surprised to know she was still awake.

"…What made you leave home to go on this journey in the first place? What led you to Soul Edge and the Azure Knight?"

Siegfried stalled. How was he supposed to answer her? Would she see him differently if she knew the truth? Would she even believe him?

"I…My father was murdered on the battle field. I saw it myself. I left on my quest so that I could find his killer and avenge my father. I…thought I was going to find justice by confronting his killer, but when I found him…Nightmare had found him as well. Nightmare took my revenge from me, and…I…was a brash boy, and so I vowed to kill Nightmare for taking my chance to avenge my father's death."

_What a lie. _Siegfried was hoping she had already fallen asleep by the time he started his story. He was never a very good liar.

Cassandra only yawned in response, her eyes still shut, "So you've killed Nightmare for sure, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, yes I have."

"How? I mean, isn't he a monster? He wields Soul Edge. How did you do it?"

Siegfried jumped slightly at that, "How? Umm…"

"I mean, isn't he immortal? It's what I heard."

Siegfried couldn't think of a lie for that one. But just as he was about to stutter out more fabrications, Cassandra began snoring quietly.

_Thank you for that._

The little valkyrie that was huddled in beside him began to rub her cheek against him again, and she moaned softly as she did. Siegfried smiled and held her snuggly, _Just like a little kitten._ As slumber began to pull him into a dream, Siegfried silently told the sweet Cassandra one last thing, _You are just as burdened as I am. But you lift so much weight off my shoulders when you're here like this, and I promise to do the same for you. Please, Cassandra Alexandra, don't ever leave me._

XOOOOOX

Siegfried dreamt of pumpkins and pumpkin pie. Why? He had no idea. Perhaps it was the season. Cassandra dreamt of grape vineyards and goats grazing on the hills of Athens. The fire reassuringly glowed in the middle of the forest floor. But it only gave a false sense of security, as at the edge of the top of the slope a commotion was welling up. Hounds held back only by their chains bayed furiously. A band of men with torches stared into the forest with dark eyes.

Cassandra and Siegfried both snapped awake, ears alert and eyes wide. Instantly Siegfried jumped up and began kicking dirt into the fire. Cassandra began gathering her belongings and wrapped Siegfried's cloak back around Siegfried's shoulders as she desperately whispered, "It's too late! They've no doubt already seen the fire!"

Siegfried grumbled in frustration, "You're right. Let's go!"

Behind them the baying of the hounds approached quickly as they came down the slope. Siegfried knew he could outrun hounds—he had done so many times during his adolescence—but he wasn't so sure about Cassandra. Would he have to carry her? He wondered.

But before they could even leave the shelter of the trees, another group of torches appeared at the top of the other side of the slope. They were surrounded. The glow of the collection of torches was less than comforting.

"Siegfried, now what?" Cassandra whispered.

"Hold still, they may still miss us."

"In a place as small as this?"

Siegfried's brow furrowed and he grumbled.

Just at the edge of the slope the head of the band of hunters began calling out, "Siegfried Schtauffen! Wanted criminal! Come out now! We have come for your bounty!"

Cassandra shot a look at Siegfried, "I didn't know you had a price on your head. When did this happen?"

"I have no idea, but I have no interest in finding how much I'm worth. Let's run that way!" Siegfried took Cassandra by the arm and pulled her off at a break-neck pace. They closed in quickly towards the edge of the woods, but as they did Siegfried was nearly struck by an arrow whizzing past his head. Luckily, Siegfried stopped himself before the arrow intercepted him. The arrow flew past and lodged itself into a tree.

"Siegfried!" Cassandra squeezed Siegfried's arm so hard he winced.

Siegfried whirled around and faced the direction of the shot. His eyes were full of surprise and anger.

"Siegfried?" Cassandra tried to get a look at his eyes so she could gage where the arrow had come from as well.

Siegfried grabbed Cassandra once again and prepared to try running again, but as he did the leader warned, "Take another step and you'll have more quills in you than a porcupine!"

The leader stepped forward from the darkness and stopped in the glow of the torches as his archers raised their bows. He appeared to be English. His age was most likely about 20 years, but he still had an innocent face like that of a young boy's. His green liveried men were nearly all within the same age and looked a little flamboyant in their attire. But despite how "flamboyant" they were it was their drawn arrows that made up for it. The leader himself wore a Robin Hood-esque outfit.

"Siegfried Schtauffen, I presume. Leader of the infamous Black Wind—known in your home country as the Schwarzwind—and an infamous mercenary known well by all mercenaries," the leader started, "I am Robin Iblis! Modern day Robin Hood and bounty hunter! And these fine men are my band of chivalrous thieves! We've come to collect our bounty!"

Siegfried snarled. He pushed Cassandra back and took a hold of his Glam, "I won't go without a fight, you do know that?"

Cassandra protested, "These guys look like nothing, Siegfried. Let me fight too."

"Be quiet. If they believe you work with me then they'll turn you in too." Siegfried whispered.

Robin smiled mockingly, "And who is that girl with you? I take it she's a souvenir from one of your precious raids?"

Siegfried didn't say anything.

Robin's expression went serious, "Let her go." He looked down at Siegfried with disdain, then diverted his gaze towards Cassandra. He changed his expression again, "Don't worry my lady; we have come to rescue you."

Cassandra had to suppress a gag.

"Let her go and come with us peacefully, mercenary Siegfried, and all will be right."

Suddenly Siegfried shoved Cassandra onto her rear end and suddenly charged at Robin, yelling out, "Don't follow! Or else you'll be shot!"

Robin drew his sword and pointed it at Siegfried who was approaching up the slope quite quickly. "Fire!"

Siegfried swatted away the arrows coming from the front with his Glam, and the ones coming from behind bounced off his new armor. Siegfried held his blade at his side as he charged, looking ready to strike a finishing blow. In truth however, he was only trying to scare Robin and his men off. After all, if his reputation as a mercenary had really spread across western Europe, they wouldn't dare take on the infamous Siegfried Schtauffen, would they?

Yes, Robin was bold enough to attack back. He drew his sword and struck. Siegfried, surprised, blocked the attack. Robin began fighting back seriously, and Siegfried went on the defensive.

Still sticking to his plan of intimidation, Siegfried began feinting blows, letting Robin block each one.

"I see the rumors weren't all true after all, Siegfried Schtauffen. Your skills have been over exaggerated," Robin mocked.

This plan wasn't working. Siegfried had to come up with something quick. But while he was busy with his act, he forgot about Cassandra and the Robin's men. He realized this too late and looked back to see that Cassandra was gone and so were Robin's men. She must have called to him, but he was too preoccupied to notice. He cursed to himself.

"Looks like my men know their roles in this battle," Robin grinned a shiny grin, "The girl's safe with them now. Now, I'll deal with you."

Before Robin could say anything more, Siegfried struck him. Hard. Robin was on the ground gasping for air in less than a second. He picked him up by the collar and asked sternly, "Where did they take her?"

Robin coughed and wheezed pathetically before speaking, "To one of our many hideouts located all over Western Europe. You won't find my men or the poor girl. She's free from your dirty clutches."

"Idiot!" Siegfried headbutted Robin, and Robin reeled to the floor as the pain rushed through his face. "Tell me!"

On the ground, Robin smiled mischievously and reached into a small pouch tied on his belt. Siegfried didn't see it. "Ha ha! Never! Justice overcomes evil!" He turned around and threw a white, twinkling powder all over Siegfried's face. It got in his eyes, nose, and mouth. Instantly he began getting drowsy and unsteady on his feet. He felt lightheaded and his head felt full of fuzz. There was a tickling and pillowy feeling in his chest, and then he fell to the ground. His vision blurred and he only saw Robin rise to his feet and wipe his bloody nose before he heard Robin say, "Old Cepheus's sleeping powder. Fool proof and one-hundred percent chance of knocking anything out cold."

XOOOOOX

Cassandra desperately pulled at the bars of the cage that held Siegfried in like an animal. "Aagh!" She shook the cage door frustrated and finally gave up.

Siegfried himself was still out. He lay on the cage floor asleep with his ankles and wrists shackled. Robin and his men had taken his armor, Glam, cloak, the sack that held the two halves of Requiem, and the money which they no doubt believed was stolen from some wealthy noble. His hair was sprawled over his face and the floor—Robin's men hadn't treated his sleeping body so well. He was snoring and drooling all over the cage floor as he slept.

Despite the situation, Cassandra had to smile a little at that. But instantly she would go back to futilely trying to pull apart the cage.

Robin came around the corner of the group's small fort with a few men behind him who in turn had several horses in tow. Cassandra stopped her struggling and faced Robin with angry eyes of a cat. "Don't you think you should let him out? This is inhumane!"

Robin waved it off, "And what of the way he must have treated you? Was that not inhumane?"

"He didn't do anything to me!" Cassandra retaliated, "He was my friend! He treated me fine, even if he was an infamous mercenary!"

Robin walked up to her and brushed her hair from her cheek, "Poor thing. You've been so dehumanized by that trash that you accept the treatment you've been receiving as acceptable. Don't you worry, we'll help you, and soon you'll be living better than ever before."

Cassandra slapped away his hand and scowled as her annoyance peeked through, "By the gods! Are you deaf!? Have you listened to a single word I've said?!" She burrowed that curse from her sister.

Robin only shook his head and kept on going, "Shh, shh, don't you worry. You can return to civilization soon."

Cassandra rolled her eyes and groaned.

Robin ordered his men, "Load the cage onto the wagon and tie it down. I'll leave the bounty collecting to you. I'm going to stay here and take care of this poor girl."

Sleeping Siegfried and his cage were loaded and tied down as instructed, and then the horses were tied to the wagon.

Cassandra ran at the wagon, "Can't you get your head out of your…"

Robin ran forward and held back Cassandra as the wagon rode off. "You owe nothing to him. He may have treated you well, and he may have charmed you with his looks and kind words, but he's no good, trust me. The Devil lures souls into his domain with his forked tongue."

Robin received a well placed slap with that. Cassandra stomped off into the fort as Robin called after her, "Don't think ill of me. All men are swine, I know, but I am different."

"Oh go to hell and lick Hades' foot."

XOOOOOX

The wagon rolled along the dirt road, kicking up dust along the way. The wagon rocked and jostled along the rough road, and it was not soon until it bumped hard on a large stone buried in the middle of the road. The large bump was enough to wake Siegfried from his powder-induced sleep.

"Wh…What on earth?" He sat up and yawned. He was awfully tired, and he could barely feel his limbs. He tried stretching, but his chains tightened and pulled his arms back.

Siegfried was no doubt surprised and soon noticed the cage and remembered last night's events. He quickly got to his knees and crawled to the bars and poked his head out. Surely enough he was on the road and was undoubtedly being turned in.

"I have to get out," he readied himself as he stretched his shoulders and warmed them up as best as he could, considering his restraints. He rose up on his knees and rammed the cage door. The cage rocked slightly and he fell back, grimacing as he felt his shoulders already bruising. The wagon drivers didn't notice, automatically assuming it was bump in the road.

Siegfried rammed it again, and this time it rocked noticeably, nearly tipping off the wagon. The drivers noticed this time, but they kept the wagon going, only mocking Siegfried's struggling.

"Ha! He thinks he can break out. He'll shatter his shoulders before he does that."

"Heh heh. That's right. But should we stop and secure the cage before he really tips it over?"

"Nah. We can always pick it back up and tie it back down."

"Don't be so nonchalant about this. If it falls off, well, you know how much that thing weighs with him in it? Can you carry over 500 pounds by yourself?"

"Or we could drag him and the cage along the road, eh?"

As they talked, Siegfried sat back down and lowered his head in dismay. He was caught, and it seemed impossible to escape. But he absolutely had to find a way.

While in his contemplation, Siegfried noticed a rustling in the brush off in the corner of his eye. He looked and caught sight of the most bizarre thing he had seen in a long time.

There, in the long grass was some kind of creature. Siegfried couldn't see it though, as it hid in the tall grass as it moved. But he could see it move through the grass, and it was as if the creature was swimming among the grass, or perhaps slithering. It was for sure no man, as a man could not move through grass so fluidly and fast as this thing. Its pace was comparable to the wagon's. In fact…

_Is it trailing the wagon?! _Siegfried watched as the thing picked up its pace and headed off more ahead.

Meanwhile, the two drivers ranted on, "So, leader seems to have taken a liking to that girl. Think he'll…?"

"No way! Robin considers himself a gentleman, one-hundred percent. I'm sure he'll try to charm her, but I doubt he'll do anything like _that_. I mean, can you expect something like that who calls his band of men _Robin's __**Merry**__ Band of Men?_"

In the cage, Siegfried tried warning the two, but it fell on deaf ears.

"You're right, I respect Robin's values about women and justice, but calling us _merry_? That's going too far. By God, it's gonna stop. I rather have my head bitten of…"

And just like that the creature attack. Pouncing like a big cat it took one driver to the ground. The wagon began shaking and losing control as the other driver tired to take control of the shocked horses. He finally got it to a stop and jumped off with knife in hand.

Siegfried decided it was now or never if he wanted to get out of his cage.

Just as the creature finished snapping the downed driver's neck after completely mutilating him, the other driver was behind it, knife trembling in hand.

The creature turned and threw out its arm, driving a katar into the other's gut and holding it there stiffly before digging it in.

At that point Siegfried rammed his cage hard enough that broke its restraints and fell off the wagon. It fell to the ground hard and as a result the cage door popped open. Siegfried crawled out only to meet the sickly freak looming over him. It wheezed and growled. It tilted its head in thought as it observed Siegfried with its bound eyes.

_Voldo…That is him…He is the one who wields the blade…He stole it from me…_

Then, startlingly, it seemed as if something in it had snapped. It began madly swinging its head back and forth as it was struck with a seizure. Like a demented madman it began screaming and growling. Foam began pooling in its mouth and then it dripped to the ground in front of Siegfried.

Siegfried was aghast. The beast lunged at him. Siegfried rolled out of the way and strained to get on his shackled feet. He was completely defenseless this way. He stood no chance of fighting this freak.

The mad creature oddly walked his way, its arms and head swinging back and forth in tandem. Siegfried clenched his teeth nervously. The freak lunged at him again, and once again Siegfried rolled out of the way. It landed beside the team of horses and spooked them, resulting in one slamming the creature with its front hooves. The creature crawled away and then sprawled out on the ground, trying to relieve the pain. Siegfried couldn't fight, but he had a plan.

Now the creature was incensed. Siegfried's plan could still work, but it would require a hell of a lot of luck and ability. The freak attacked wildly now, its fury nearly catching Siegfried and tearing him apart. Every swipe of its katars splattered blood across Siegfried's face. Suffering a few lacerations, Siegfried eventually reached his strategy point.

Siegfried was on his knees with the horses just at his back. He kept himself calm, cautious not to startle the horses just inches behind him.

The creature lunged one more time. As the freak came in for the slaughter—Siegfried had to be very well coordinated and timed to accomplish this—Siegfried dropped and rolled underneath all three horses and out the other side, nearly having his skull by one horse on the way.

The creature missed its intended target and sliced the leg of one horse, and immediately the horse began panicking, causing the others to panic as well. The creature was in such a blind rage that it attempted to crawl under the horses to get its cold fingers around the prey. But the horses never wanted such a monster to be crawling underneath them, and so they began stomping and kicking fearfully. Dust and dirt was kicked up in a brown billow, and in the dusty cloud the creature was pummeled underneath all the heavy hooves and could not make its way back up or out.

That wasn't enough. Siegfried hobbled his way to the back of the wagon and slammed his head into the end of it, causing a great loud snap of wood that shocked the horses.

The terrified horses took off just as Siegfried had planned, and they pulled the heavy wagon along with them. The creature underneath it all was trampled again and then crushed by the wheels of the wagon.

As the horses and wagon took off, Siegfried noticed a sound of chain and dragging metal. He looked back and there was his cage, a single line of chain still holding attaching it to the back of the wagon. The sliding cage careened at the broken creature with such speed that the impact rattled the cage. It echoed in Siegfried's ears. The cage pushed along the freak's body until the body caught and the then the massive cage simply dragged over it, crushing more flesh and bone.

Siegfried winced at the sight. He stopped to catch his breath before going on. First, he needed the lock keys.

XOOOOOX

Cassandra sat inside the dark fort with only a lit candle as she skimmed through a book. Although she flipped the pages, her mind was not on the book. Instead, she was pondering of a way to get Siegfried back and out of whatever cesspool they put bounty heads in.

She closed the book in front of her and put it back. She then went through the pile of books in front of her before coming to a particular book. She scrutinized it and brushed the cover. It seemed to be a diary. She opened to the first page and was shocked to find that, from the first page to the last, the book was seeped with blood. The bloody pages were stained and yellow and old. Some were burnt.

"What is this?" Cassandra began flipping through the pages. Many of the pages were illegible, but she came to one page towards the end. The page was marked: 30. April 1587.

There was no writing on the page. Only a crude sketch. What was odd was that the date was written neatly, like the writer was ready to write that day, but the sketch was different. The sketch was hurried and edgy, like it was drawn with a shaky hand in a hurry.

Although hurried, the sketch still had form to it. Cassandra was shocked when she made it out. She examined the sketch closer to make sure it was really what she believed it was. As she poured over the odd sketch, she spotted words towards the bottom of the sketch. Blood had distorted the writing, but she could still make something out.

"…_Azure Knight_…Nightmare! This…this is Nightmare?"


	24. Chapter 23

**Author's Notes: Sorry for taking so incredibly long to update. I had a major case of writer's block, or maybe just a lack of motivation…But now I'm ready for more. And thanks for the reviews, especially those I got during my 3 month long "break". Dark Raven008912, Jenizaki, and Darkide, you know I'm talking about you. Anyway, I hope this new chapter makes up for my laziness.**

**Chapter 23**

"Damn it!" Siegfried cussed after futilely attempting to unlock his shackles. The human hand just wasn't meant to work that way.

The sun was high above. Lunchtime. Siegfried's growling stomach reminded him of that sure enough. Sweat beaded down his brow as he began again.

"Ugh, ah…damn! How am I going to do this?" He shook his head frustratingly. He dropped to his back and stared at the sky. The sun shone into his eyes and he instinctively lifted his arm to block the rays only to yank his other arm further behind his back. He quickly readjusted himself and continued to stare into the sky as if looking for a solution there.

A small bird flew across his line of sight. Siegfried twitched, "Maybe…" He propped himself back up and took in long, deep breaths. He flexed his arms and pulled them hard. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. His breath was strained. He stopped that once his common sense set in. He dropped his arms and lay back down.

"Ha!" He laughed in spite of himself. "Obviously Olcadan's strength training hasn't made me so strong that I can tear iron! How stupid. If I could do that, I would have been out of that cage long ago." He sighed.

After resting his arms, he sat back up and tried the key again…

XOOOOOX

Cassandra jumped in her seat as she heard the door behind her thump open. She quickly jumped up and turned around to find Robin standing in the doorway with a candle and a look on his face that she had never seen before.

"Cassandra," he acknowledged her.

Cassandra only returned a grumble. She watched silently as Robin walked past her and to the table. He tilted his head to look at the book propped open on the table and quickly realized he should have hidden _those _books.

Cassandra quickly stomped her way to the table and threw her hand down on the book and pointed at the sketch. "Where did you get these books?" Her voice was harsh and demanding and it was not going to be wavered.

Robin knew that something like this was going to happen if she got her hands on these books. There was no beating around this. He pulled himself a chair and sat down while inviting Cassandra to do the same.

"Hope you're ready for a story, Cassandra. Let's just hope you believe me." His voice was different. The way he spoke now was nothing like the Robin Cassandra had come to loathe.

"This sketch, as you may have already come to the conclusion, is definitely a sketch of Nightmare as this poor witness saw him. But he looks like someone, doesn't he, Cassandra?"

Cassandra nodded, "Siegfried."

"Exactly. This is Siegfried, and if you put it together, then this is no doubt a sketch of Siegfried as Nightmare."

"How do _you _know so much?"

"I knew you'd ask me that. First of all, my name is still Robin Iblis, but as for the fact that I am a leader of a band of…_merry _men, well, that is all just an act. But don't tell the others, they don't know." He lifted his fingers to his lips and smiled.

Cassandra rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Just go on."

"Very well then, fair Cassandra. I am not your average man. I am a member of an old and secret society known as the Sages of the Oak." He pulled out from beneath his shirt a necklace shaped like an oak tree made of gold, "I am the apprentice to my master, Cepheus, who is also a very important member of this society."

_Cepheus…Where have I heard that name before? _Cassandra wondered.

"The Sages of the Oak maintain the normalcy of this world. You have no idea how unstable your world is, Cassandra. Why, if it were not for us, giants and Cyclops would roam your home country of Greece, right Cassandra?

"The society has been doing this for centuries and centuries. It was even around during the days of Soul Edge's creation, and we have been watching Soul Edge's work for centuries now."

"Well you sure have been slacking off from what I've seen."

Robin leaned back in his chair and gripped in chest, feigning pain, "Oh, my heart! O' harsh lady Cassandra! How could you say such stinging words?" Upon seeing Cassandra's look of impatience he quickly continued, "Ahem…Well, that is not our fault, Cassandra. You see, from what my master told me, two decades ago, well, more precisely _twenty-three _years ago something monumental occurred."

"What was that?"

"A king was reborn. This King was the first man who tamed the power of Soul Edge. He was also the one who was responsible for the creation of Soul Calibur. But it is such that great men die for petty reasons. The King was killed by his own son whose hands wielded the Soul Edge to do so. His soul was reincarnated into an infant twenty-three years ago.

"Now although the King's soul was reborn into the infant, the infant had a soul of his own, and that soul was simply one of an imperfect human's."

"And that infant was Siegfried?"

"Got it. It was Siegfried. The Sages of the Oak knew that one day the King would be reborn. We would call the child he would be reincarnated into the Fated One. It was decided by destiny that the Fated One would be the one who would bring an end to Soul Edge, but at the same time be the cause of much death and grief.

"It is not coincidence that Siegfried found the cursed blade, and it was destined that he take it by the hilt. The Fated One tamed the blade but fell under its influence at the same time."

"Nightmare…" Needless to say, Cassandra was stunned. "But it's over now, isn't it? Siegfried is Siegfried now. Right?"

"Yes, he's finally free, but there is still one last thing both he and the Sages of the Oak must do." Robin clamped his hands together and shut his eyes. He let out a long breath as if he was disappointed with something, "We must destroy Soul Edge completely. We only captured you and Siegfried because we believed you carried the Soul Embrace, but apparently Siegfried has _misplaced_ it."

"The Soul Embrace?"

Robin paid no heed to Cassandra's question. He put his chin in his palm and slouched down, looking off into the dim corner of the room with sad eyes. "I have been trying to contact Master Cepheus for weeks upon weeks now. Now that I see Siegfried no longer has the Soul Embrace, I believe that Master Cepheus may have it now. After all, he had been following Siegfried for months now. But then again, he might not have taken it. I mean, why hasn't he sent word to any of us? What has become of him?"

"Wait. If you wanted us for this Soul Embrace, then why did you go through all that fanfare and junk back then?"

Robin looked back at Cassandra, his chin still in his palm, "You see, only I am a member of the Sages in this band of mercenary hunters. None of my men know any of what we just discussed. I had to put on this act, otherwise my men would have learned the truth, and you know how fragile order can be once chaos comes knocking at the door. If we had met in different circumstances, say I was alone, things would have gone so much more smoothly."

"So where did you send Siegfried off to this morning?" Cassandra felt relief finally after worrying all day. She was worried she was going to get gray hairs by the end of today.

"I indeed did have my men send him to a prison. My men will indeed receive a reward, for indeed there is a price on Siegfried's head. The bounty has been out for nearly seven years, but bounties never…expire, for lack of a better term."

Cassandra could almost feel the gray creeping back into her hair, "So that's it now!? You couldn't find what you wanted so you decided to at least get a prize out of this situation!?" She leapt to her feet, fist balled up and ready to break a nose.

Robin jumped back in his chair and held up his hands in defense, "Wait! Cassandra! There's still more!"

Cassandra stopped and let him continue, but that wasn't to say she wasn't angry anymore. Her fists were still clenched and as hard as steel.

"Once in prison, he will be held until one of the Sages comes to free him. This particular member is a very influential man, and he'll be able to persuade the guards to let him out. After that, the Sages will have other things planned for your Siegfried, good things, I promise."

"What good things?"

"That is only for the Sages and Siegfried to know."

"Even after you told me all of this?"

"Yes…"

XOOOOOX

Autumn leaves skittered across the dirt road and past the broken remains of the living and the large steel cage. There were no other signs of life in the area, and what once were chains of restraint were now lying in the long grass along with the other traces of a bad afternoon.

Siegfried hobbled back down the road on sore legs and feet. He rolled his wrists and shook the ache out of them. The road looked long, but at the end of it he could see…

"A town? They've traveled past towns as well?" Siegfried was going to have a much harder time backtracking to the fort, that was for sure.

XOOOOOX

Far over in the next town stood an empty jail cell that, if things had gone right, would have held Siegfried himself. Staring anxiously into the empty cell was a young man with silver hair and emerald green eyes.

"Where the hell is he?"

XOOOOOX

There was something about this town. It was the way everyone looked at Siegfried as he entered. They stared at him so coldly and angrily. Did they know he was the one in the cage? It was certainly possible considering the wagon carrying him in a cage did just pass by.

The place felt empty. Although the sun was high, it felt as if no light shined on this place. It felt stark and empty and cold, as if it was the early morning after a late autumn rain. And on top of that it was quiet. No one spoke a word except for the seldom whisper every now and then.

Needless to say, Siegfried watched his step. Something about this town didn't feel right. All Siegfried wanted to do at this moment was get out of this place and quick.

On both sides of the road were tall buildings. Inns, shops, and restaurants, all were built quite high, attributing to the lack of sunlight in the city. All those buildings felt as foreboding as the city in which they stood. Siegfried could see how dark it was inside those buildings. He looked up into every single dark window as he walked along, but there was something that caught his eye. His eyes glanced past the window of a butcher shop, and he swore he saw something pale flash across the darkness in the window. He stopped immediately and observed the window. He waited. He felt something odd about what he had seen. He waited several long seconds.

There! There it was again! Siegfried was beginning to feel nervous. It looked like…human skin. Just what was going on in there? Siegfried couldn't stop looking. He waited again. He stood there, hardly breathing, the thump of his heartbeat pounding in his ears. For long moments nothing happened. His ears listened for something, anything, but he heard nothing past the pounding in his ears. The darkness beyond the window was like some other world, a place that had no home here on mother earth. It just felt wrong.

But just like that…

"Oh my…!" Siegfried yelled out in pure shock as the fear in him forced his body to jump.

The pale thing slammed against the window. Mouth pried wide open, tongue inside outstretched in what no doubt was a shriek of pure terror. The face was wry and the skin was stretched taut against the bones. The eyes were peeled so wide open to the point they may have popped out of their sockets had they not been so sunken in. The eyes on this thing looked like dark pools in which only the smallest glint of the whites of the eyes could be seen. Frizzled and tangled hair hung across the face. The skin on the body was stretched taut as well, and blood was beginning to seep through the skin where the ribs pressed so tightly against the skin. Siegfried could now be sure this thing was a woman.

She screamed again, no doubt at the top of her lungs. She suddenly lurched and out of her mouth came blood, splattering on the window. She moved her head, looking around her. Her head moved so awkwardly, it was almost disturbingly odd. Once again she turned back to the window and screamed again, but all Siegfried could hear was muffled shrieks. She lifted her arm and pounded on the window. To Siegfried's pure terror she was not pounding with her hand, but with a bloody stump.

Siegfried had been frozen in pure shock, too afraid to do anything, but the moment he spotted a dark figure behind the woman he forced himself to move. But he was only to be stopped by the townspeople. He stopped in his tracks and watched as the woman pounded desperately and as a large cleaver came down upon her. Her muffled screaming came to an end as the blood splattered across the window.

"No! No!" He forced his way past the people and rushed towards the butchery shop, all the while being yelled at and mocked by the townspeople. He slammed through the front door which seemed to be as old as time itself. What was behind the door made Siegfried sick to his stomach. In the darkness and dust there were torsos of human beings hanging from hooks and on the counters were the limbs. Siegfried felt dizzy. This was all so…wrong…that was the only way he could say it. Siegfried was out of his element. He had never, ever witnessed anything so sick. He didn't know how to deal with this, and he began to feel scared. He knew he was in trouble. Despite that, he knew he had to do something. What if there were others? He couldn't just leave them here. Mustering up all his courage and gathering his insides, he headed towards the stairs.

The place smelled rotten, like spoiled meat and fat cooking in a pot of spoiled mild over a fire fed by driftwood. Siegfried cautiously made his way up the stairs. That dark figure was still up there, and unfortunately the stairs took a turn around a wall up ahead to Siegfried's sorrow. There was a very good chance that right behind that turn was the butcher and his monstrous cleaver. He took it one step at a time. He pressed up towards the wall and slowly, very slowly…

"Hello there."

Siegfried jumped and turned around, facing the figure at the bottom of the stairs. It was a portly man wearing a blood stained apron with which he calmly cleaned his knife. On his pudgy, misshapen face was the most demented smile Siegfried had ever seen. He swore he could count every single pointed yellow tooth in the butcher's mouth.

Siegfried's breath sped up. He had never felt so afraid.

The butcher chortled mockingly, "You know, in a butcher shop there are more than just one cutting area…" He pointed the rusted knife at Siegfried, "And more than one butcher!"

Siegfried turned to see the shadow of another man. This was the one with the giant cleaver. Although he caught glimpse of the butcher, he couldn't react quickly enough. The cleaver sliced in deep through Siegfried's shoulder. Siegfried cried in agony. The butcher dug it in deeper and deeper until he had sliced in towards Siegfried's chest. The butcher then pulled out the cleaver from Siegfried's body and gazed admiringly at the blood dripping from the blade.

Siegfried dropped down on the stairs and looked in horror at what had just happened to him. His right arm and a large portion of his right side were only hanging on by the little meat still attached to him. The butcher raised his cleaver again and drove it all the way through the remaining flesh. Siegfried's arm and flesh rolled down the stairs like a hunk of meat.

"Aaagggghhhh!!!" Siegfried dropped to his side and screamed at the top of his lungs. He looked at his right side at the torn flesh and shattered bone hanging there. Fearing now for his life, Siegfried began crawling down the stairs. The pain was so agonizing. It burned like fire and stung like a hundred bees. Every movement he made caused so much pain that he nearly felt like just passing out.

The portly butcher chuckled sinisterly, "I guess you don't need your feet to crawl."

And with that Siegfried felt a sharp pain cut across his ankle as he heard the gruesome sound of cracking and breaking bone. Then he heard another crack and felt it again.

"Aaaggghh!!!" Siegfried howled like a trapped animal. Looking back at the bloody stumps and tendons trailing behind him, he ended up rolling down the stairs, causing him even greater agony.

He landed at the bottom of the portly butcher's feet and looked back towards the stairs for the taller one. He could see his blood all over the walls and smeared all along the stairway. He also saw the cleaver-wielding butcher come towards him as well. With the only arm he had he pulled himself away, his blood trailing behind him.

"No, please…no…"

"No escape." The bigger butcher spoke, his voice a low, guttural rumble. "Slaughter, slaughter, slaughter!!!" He shook his head side to side maniacally and screamed psychotically. He lifted his giant cleaver and in a similar fashion to the way Siegfried performed the Earth Divide, and sent it down upon him…

XOOOOOX

Robin waited outside with the other men. He was eagerly waiting for confirmation that Siegfried had made it to the prison. His men sat around a campfire, singing old folk songs blissfully with their mugs in the air. They enjoyed slices of the tenderest lamb complimented with pieces of hard bread that not even a dog would chew on. That was how they lived.

The day was getting old. Blue skies were now turning purple with the setting of the sun and the air was getting chill. Robin shivered, and not because of the chill. His men should have been back a long time ago. They should have been back only a few hours after lunchtime.

Robin removed his hat and scratched his head. Just then, a pigeon decided to take his hand as a perch. Robin looked up and moved the pigeon closer to his face.

"Finally." Untying the letter from the carrier pigeon's leg, Robin felt a sense of relief. That was until he rolled open the note.

_Siegfried is nowhere to be found. _

–_Galleon_

Robin immediately knew what had happened. He felt a rush of anger come across him, but at the same time he felt a sense of urgency. Siegfried had to be found.

Knowing Cassandra would want to know this, Robin rushed into the fort to tell her the news, even if in doing so he would be putting his own personal health in jeopardy. He still had to tell her.

He made his way into the cramped room, dug his way through all the books Cassandra had decided to bury herself in.

Cassandra flipped through several books at once with the intent on finding any more about the Azure Knight. She grumbled to herself as she heard Robin stumbling through the barrier of books she had purposely built.

"Cassandra!"

"Made it through, eh? Too bad," she commented calmly.

"This is no time for jokes, Cassandra. Siegfried didn't make it to the prison. Galleon didn't find him."

"What!" She jumped up and stomped towards Robin, "Then where is he?"

"He's most likely heading back here to get you. If he backtracks on route my men took, then he'll be walking into in grave danger. There are some places on that road that no mortal should see."

"Well then what are we waiting for?! We have to find him!" Cassandra's face showed worry and concern all over.

"Yes, we do. Come with me."

Robin led Cassandra to the makeshift stables for the band's horses. The horses neighed at Robin's presence and pulled tried to pull away from their restraints.

"Calm down, friends. I only need two of you." Robin chose the two strongest looking horses. One was grey and the other was pure white. "You take Benjamin, the white one, I'll take Sourdough."

"Sourdough?" Cassandra was beginning to think Robin was completely insane.

"Just get on!" Robin ordered in a very uncharacteristic voice for him.

"Alright."

Once on the horse, Robin rode up beside her, "Here take this, and wear it around you neck." He handed her a necklace made of shining silver. "This is the first Sage sitting beneath the Oak Tree that granted him all knowing wisdom, he'll protect us."

As they road out of the camp Robin's men hollered out in a drunken stupor, "Hey, Boss! Where ya goin' with the girl?"

"We're going on an evening ride down the lane of love. Don't wait for us! And get some sleep for the love of God!"

_And let's hope you don't have any nightmares…_


	25. Chapter 24

**Author's Notes: I've rewritten this chapter. I'm much more satisfied with this one.**

**Chapter 24**

Siegfried's blood ran cold. The terror that surged through him as he looked at the large hunk of what used to be his torso was immeasurable. Seeing his severed feet lying on the stairs above him did not help either. He lay in his own pool of warm blood, and as he looked up at his butcher the only thing that ran through his mind was his own trepidation and his death. Nothing else. He shook violently. His face became wry, like that of the woman's, and he began sobbing as he begged, "P…please…N…no…don't."

This was pure terror. Fear in its truest form. Such fear could reach out and affect all those nearby, but not these two. These two butchers, these monsters, delighted in this feeling they had.

"Slaughter, slaughter, slaughter!!" The butcher raised his cleaver, and in instant Siegfried became angry. Fear together with anger creates the ugliest beast, but Siegfried didn't care at that moment. He wanted to kill these two. Badly.

_I want to kill them! I want to slaughter! I will butcher! I want to cause them pain! Their flesh torn by my hands! Such pleasure I could have! I want it again!! I want to be Nightmare again!!_

Those were his final thoughts as the butcher swung his cleaver, and all Siegfried saw and felt were a flash of gray and the feeling like a large stone striking him hard in the head…

XOOOOOX

Cassandra instinctively wrapped her hand around the cross on her neck as she shivered from the cold chill that suddenly swept across the field. It whistled past her ears and strangely resembled the sound of human moaning. Robin was just in front of her urging his horse to speed up.

Night had fallen and all had fallen silent. Not even the crickets chirped. Only the sound of thumping hooves penetrated the dark silence.

Cassandra broke the silence, "Robin, what will we do once we're there? You never made that clear."

Robin never looked back. He spoke loudly and clearly so that she could hear him, "We'll be entering _their _world once we get there. You must keep a sound mind and steady concentration to keep from falling victim to them. Just remember that even though you are in their territory, you also still stand on the earth's ground, in _our _world. Never forget that.

"If Siegfried is there, then he has already fallen victim to them. We must save him before they completely take him."

Cassandra didn't know what to expect from this town, but she knew that her sword would not be her strongest weapon in this place.

XOOOOOX

Siegfried shivered. It was so cold. Was this what death felt like? No. this all felt so familiar to him.

_I've felt this before…it isn't death. This is far worse. _

He suddenly opened his eyes and what he saw was like something he had seen dozens of times. Before him was a scene of terrible carnage. Through a hazy red vision he looked upon slain bodies laid all across the ground. Blood covered everything—the homes, the ground he walked, and even his body. He couldn't tell if the blood dripping from his body was his own or the blood of the dead. He took his fingers and wiped his face. Looking at the tips of fingers, he was mortified to see them coated in blood. But even so, he couldn't stop himself from wiping it across his chest, wearing it as if it was a badge of honor.

This was what happened every sleepless night, and every time Siegfried was forced to watch as his body acted on its own accord, slaying every living being that crossed his path.

One single man approached Siegfried. He boldly held his sword out, like a man leading an army. This was only one man, yet he carried himself as if he was a one man army.

Siegfried would have none of this insolence. He swung his zweihander…Soul Edge…

XOOOOOX

The entire town was abandoned. Not a soul remained. Windows flapped in the breeze and leaves skittered across the road. Cassandra walked that road, eyes fixated ahead of her, fearful of looking into the dark, empty windows that she swore housed unseen eyes. She walked unblinking, focusing all her concentration on where she was and what she was here for.

There was a strange smell in the air, like burning candles and honey. Every time the breeze brushed past her ears, she heard the chatter of people. She began swaying, and sidestepped, nearly losing her balance. She shut her eyes for only a second, but in that second she nearly fell asleep. She forced her eyes open and jumped at the brief sight of lights and what she assumed were people. But in an uncountable second it all disappeared.

"Aggh! Damn it!" She shook and pounded her head. She immediately reached up for the cross on her neck and squeezed it tight.

"Stay awake Cassandra. Focus."

Robin was behind her. He was faring better than she was, but he also struggled to maintain his composure.

"There is a lot of force here. The focus of it must be near. Hang on tight, lady Cassandra. This is where our psyches will be at most risk." Robin staggered toward a building and had to stop himself with his hand before he collided with the wall.

Cassandra looked back and playfully mocked him, "Ha! What a lose…" In an instant the sights came back again, and Cassandra was horrified to see four people carrying emotionless faces inside the window, two staring at Robin just by the same window, and the other two staring at her with dead, penetrating eyes.

"Oh god, no! NO!" Cassandra immediately shut her eyes and ears and ran off, shaking her head and screaming.

"Siegfried! SIEGFRIED!"

XOOOOOX

"SIEGFRIED! NO!"

Siegfried paid no heed. He let his sword do the talking on the battlefield. With one slice, the man's head fell off his shoulders. His body dropped to the ground, lifeless save for a few involuntary movements. The head fell to the ground and rolled a few feet before stopping face down.

Siegfried pompously strolled to claim his trophy. He picked it up by the hair, then tossed it up in the air before catching it in his palm. He raised it high in the air and called out victoriously, "Here! Here is the head of their leader! Now it is my trophy!"

The homes that once surrounded him were now gone, and in their place were hills and a band of faceless followers.

"Schwarzwind!!" They all hollered in unison.

"The Schwarzwind!" Siegfried answered proudly. He looked up at his trophy, expecting to be filled with a sense of pride, but he was only flooded with horror.

The head peered down at him, eyes wide in dread, face pale and rotting. Its lips began moving.

"_Siegfried…_"

XOOOOOX

"NOOOOO!!"

Cassandra stumbled and tripped over her own feet. She landed hard, and if she hadn't stopped her head from hitting the ground, she would have surely lost consciousness from the impact.

The scream echoed through the streets of the town. Cassandra had never heard such a dreadful scream in her life. But what really frightened her was that she knew that voice. It was Siegfried's, and anything could be happening to him. It felt as if her heart was about to explode from the fear rushing through her. She knew she had to get to him, before it was too late.

But what she didn't realize was that as she got back to her feet, the darkness hiding in the empty windows began creeping, and as she ran off, they crawled from their nests. The dark beings clung to the walls and followed the girl towards the scream.

XOOOOOX

"No! No, no, no!" Siegfried tossed and turned violently, rustling his bed sheets and blanket.

"Siegfried! Wake up!"

He felt a forceful shaking. There was a strong grip on his shoulders.

"Siegfried, dear, wake up. It's only a dream."

Finally he opened his eyes. His eyes had to adjust to the sunlight, but when it finally cleared, he saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"Mother?" He sat up, never taking his eyes off her.

His mother smiled kindly. It was a beautiful smile, and it always calmed him whenever he felt distressed.

She stroked her son's hair and playfully ruffled it, "Look at my little boy. Still drooling in your sleep? Must you always make the laundry so hard to clean?"

Siegfried, now bashful, lowered his head, "Sorry, Mother."

Margaret simply chuckled and patted him on the head, "It's okay, Sieggy. Now get dressed and eat breakfast. Your father's already waiting for you."

Siegfried dashed down his stairs as fast as he could. Siegfried knew where his father was. He was outside, practicing his swordplay after a hardy breakfast made by Mother.

"Father!"

Frederick turned towards his boy. "Siegfried, come. I have something to teach you."

Frederick handed Siegfried his old sword Faust. Siegfried lifted it easily, and assumed his stance. In an instant a flash of sparks illuminated the father's and son's faces as their swords clashed.

"Again!"

The blades sliced through the air again and hit with the sound of screeching metal.

"Perfect, Siegfried!"

Siegfried felt his pride swell up inside him. This was all he ever wanted. He only wanted his mother, his father, and their pride in him. But there was something in the back of his mind that he couldn't shake away. There was a voice that kept on calling to him.

"…Siegfried…Siegfried…Siegfried…"

Siegfried turned and looked to the east. Highlighted by the bright light of the new morning, a figure approached, clad in black armor.

"Siegfried!!"

The knight came closer and lifted his enormous blade, threatening to cut down the boy. Siegfried feared this knight, and he couldn't move. Just as he managed to stutter a meek 'help me', Frederick stepped in for his son and took a swing at the knight.

The knight reeled back with a pained groan. With blood dripping down his sliced abdomen, the knight struck back, but was stopped by Frederick's impenetrable guard. Frederick took the advantage and attacked again. A game of back and forth ensued, and Frederick had the upper hand for the majority of the battle.

Siegfried stared at the knight's face. Green eyes peered from under the helm, and his blonde hair draped down upon his forehead. What he found odd was that whenever the knight attacked, instead of the grunt anyone else would have uttered, the knight shouted out Siegfried's name.

"Siegfried! SIEGFRIED!"

With every hit Frederick delivered the knight's armor became weaker and weaker.

Siegfried watched in awe. _Father is incredible!_

Suddenly the knight had Frederick to his knees. He had slammed down his sword with such force that it threatened to shatter Frederick's sword.

Frederick trembled as he held his sword above his head, using all his might to keep himself in one piece. "Siegfried, help…me…!"

Siegfried hesitated. How could he possibly stand against this black knight? He saw how the two warriors were trembling, how they were using all their might to conquer the other.

Then unexpectedly, the knight's dark armor began to fall apart. Piece by piece it crumbled and fell to the ground. In the end, after all the plating had fallen off, Siegfried saw a young woman standing above his father. From her gritted teeth she muttered his name again.

"Sieg…fried…"

"Quickly Siegfried! You must kill her! She is evil!" Frederick ordered.

"But Father…I cannot. She is not the knight."

"Of course she is! Her armor no longer protects her! That's all! She is the knight under the armor! Kill her!"

"No! She is not the knight!"

"…Siegfried…"

"Siegfried! You either kill her, or you let me die! The choice is obvious!"

"…Siegfried!"

As he listened to her call his name again, Siegfried realized who this woman was. Together they worked to achieve a goal, but what goal, Siegfried could not remember. And so now he had two paths in front of him.

One was a path he had always wanted to stay on: the path of family. It was the path where his mother and father waited for him with open arms, but in exchange he would never remember what he needed to achieve.

The other was a path of responsibility and hardship. A path where his father would have to die and his family broken, but in the end he would fulfill his duty.

Siegfried chose to return to reality and not to dream. He lifted Faust, and took off his father's head…

XOOOOOX

Cassandra ran as fast as her legs would allow her. She knew something was following her, but she didn't want to see what. Her flight led her to the town square where she found Siegfried standing like a statue, head turned to the night sky.

"Siegfried!" Feeling a small sense of relief, she darted to him, hoping he would turn and embrace her in his warmth. Instead he stood still as stone. His eyes were rolled up into his head, and his skin was ice cold.

With a sense of panic rapidly building up inside of her, Cassandra shook him violently. "Wake up! Wake up! Siegfried!"

_Wake up…I can't let this world take me…_

"Aggghhh!" Siegfried let out a frightening cry. His body quivered and rocked until he fell to the ground in a trembling mess.

He stopped convulsing and shut his eyes tight and shook his head. He opened his eyes again. Everything was warped. There were people who surrounded him that in no way were still alive. These spirits loomed over him. Warped and demented, words couldn't describe what they looked like. There were orbs of lights filling the sky. They seemed to dance and sing with a strange ringing of bells. Amidst all the disturbing oddities, Cassandra's face provided relief to his anxiety.

"Siegfried! Thank the gods." Cassandra pulled him into her arms.

"Ugh!" Siegfried felt as if his mind had taken a blow. Everything began spinning. Everything became fuzzy, and he began feeling sick and dizzy. He turned to his side and vomited.

Cassandra went to his side and held him reassuringly, "Wake up Siegfried. It's not real. I can get you out of here. We'll be fine…"

But watching her from the shadows were the dark beings, reluctant to attack now that the dream spirits had lost their hold on their prey. They began to bide their time.

XOOOOOX

Cassandra no longer had to try so hard to focus her mind. The spirits were dispersing now, and they no longer attempted to pull them into their world. Her mind was stable now.

Siegfried, however, was still reeling from the shock of escaping the spirits' dream world. He opened his eyes, and Cassandra saw that they were clouded. He rocked his head back and forth as he gazed at the sky. Cassandra fearfully shook him.

"Siegfried! Stop it! Please! You're scaring me!" In an effort to wake him from his trance, she embraced him tightly, holding him steady and telling him she was there.

Eventually Siegfried stopped. His eyes cleared and he settled down. He shoved Cassandra aside and vomited one last time. He then spit and sat up, saliva trailing down his mouth. Cassandra could still tell he was tired. He crawled away from her and found a spot to lie down on his side. Cassandra crawled to his side and placed her hand on his chest.

"C'mon Siegfried, let's get out of here," she gingerly urged him.

Siegfried shut his eyes and clasped her hand. He shook his head, "No, not yet please. I just want to rest." He took one last look at the stars and shut his eyes, curling into a fetal position and getting some much needed sleep.

XOOOOOX

Robin had rejoined Cassandra as Siegfried slept. He approached with a grave look on his face.

"We must leave. There are eyes watching, Cassandra. Can you see them? In the shadows. I see white eyes."

Cassandra shook her head, "No…no, I don't see anything." Robin knew that she was denying it. She was just as anxious to get out of there as he was. Despite that, they had no choice but to wait for Siegfried to awaken.

Robin uneasily held his cross as he gazed into the shadows. He could barely distinguish the white flickering of eyes, but he knew they were watching. He let out a long, disheartened sigh. During his and Cassandra's panic, they scared off his two horses. He saw them run into the shadows, and that was when the sound of their galloping hooves stopped.

Cassandra had Siegfried's head in her lap, and she lovingly stroked his hair. She had wiped away his saliva with her glove, and she caressed his cheek. She wondered how longer he would sleep.

A chill came over the both of them as the wind howled. Over the time Siegfried was asleep the autumn night breeze had become a more forceful wind. Siegfried's body shivered in the cold.

As if beaten by the wings of an unseen bird, the wind pounded them in pulses. A dark presence flew in with the wind, over the trio's heads.

Out of the night came a raven, cawing as it swooped down at Robin's head. He ducked in time, but the mad bird managed to take off his hat.

Robin was up on his feet, bow and arrow drawn and taut. "That is no normal raven. It wanted my eyes."

The raven perched upon a lamppost and cawed. There was something about the raven's cry that made one shiver from the inside out, and Siegfried felt it too. He began quivering. Cassandra could see that his eyes were rapidly moving underneath his eyelids.

"…my blood…my soul…my delusion…" These words began coming out of Siegfried's mouth.

"…That is what gave him life…"

He had awoken, and he quickly pulled himself out of Cassandra's grip. The sight of the bird brought back a surge of old memories.

"Finally. Finally I see you!"

"Siegfried…who do you see?"

Siegfried remained silent. In the moonless night Cassandra could only see the dark profile of his face and the glistening of his eyes, and she could see that those eyes never left contact with those of the raven.

The raven rustled its feathers and stared back with its red eyes. It gazed at Siegfried, scrutinizing its former owner. Siegfried heard a voice in his head.

_And I see you, Evil Seed._

Looking past the raven, Siegfried saw a dark figure rise from the roof of a chapel. At first it was an unidentifiable silhouette, but it began to concentrate, and slowly Siegfried could see the threatening shape of the helm and the grotesque appendage holding nothing else but the ghostly red glowing sword. The eye of the sword radiated a penetrating violet light and it stared blankly into the distance. The demon stood tall and looked to the night sky, as if searching for a power from the dark.

"Nightmare!" Siegfried shouted in feral anger. He would tear Nightmare apart with his bare hands if he had to.

Nightmare quickly turned his head to look down at Siegfried. His sickly orange eyes flickered and he suddenly raised his monstrous arm to the sky, holding the phantom Soul Edge high. The sound of tearing sinew could be heard as the mouths on his person began opening. The darkness inside those gaping maws was darker than the moonless night itself. Nightmare exhaled slowly, and then he vigorously inhaled through the maws, forcing the wind around him to howl. The air began drawing towards him like a vacuum, taking in all kinds of debris.

As the vortex began to strengthen, the three began to be pulled in. Robin let loose an arrow only to have it be torn apart in the wind. Cassandra lost her footing and fell to the ground with a thud. Her head cracked against the ground and instantly she lost consciousness. She began to be pulled in by the vortex, sliding across the ground.

"Cassandra!" Before she slid any further, Siegfried caught her limp body by the arm and hoisted her up and turned his back to the vacuuming winds, sheltering Cassandra's limp body under him.

As he held Cassandra tight, Siegfried's ears began to pick up a noise mixed in with the sound of the howling wind. It was the moaning of souls. He looked up into the windows of the buildings and watched as glowing purple orbs began to form only to be sucked into Nightmare's gaping maws. They whizzed past by the dozens, and as the souls flew past his ears, Siegfried could hear their agonized screams. Soon the skies above the ghostly city were illuminated with the pale lavender glow of hundreds of former human souls. They were all drawn forcefully into Nightmare's being, and he enjoyed it like a feast.

"He's absorbing the restless souls!" Robin exclaimed while clasping onto a window ledge for dear life.

"Souls, darkness, come unto me!!"

The dark beings that clung to the shadows were suddenly pulled out and swallowed by Nightmare. Their screeching tore at the men's eardrums. Their wry faces begged for help, but to no avail. With every one of them he consumed, Nightmare grew larger. He began to pour blood from the over sizing.

As more and more souls were absorbed, the vortex became stronger, and Siegfried had to put all he had into staying steady like a stone. But at last the final soul was absorbed by Nightmare, and the vortex calmed. Siegfried carefully laid Cassandra down. He turned to face Nightmare. He was horrified to see such a show of strength, but that didn't quell the hatred and fury burning inside of him.

Nightmare never acknowledged Siegfried. His burning eyes rolled up into his head and his body began to throb. His energy pulsated frighteningly. His body throbbed faster and more violently, and he began to growl like a rabid beast.

At that moment, Nightmare began to go through a terrible transformation. His body cracked and tore. His armor melted. A black haze exuded from his body, eventually cloaking his transformation completely.

Siegfried watched in horror from the ground. All he could see was the glow of fire and heat. He could hear Nightmare's growling and the disfiguring of his body. Siegfried didn't know what this would result in, but he knew that nothing good could come out of it.

"What is this monstrosity? I had no clue…I had no clue an evil like this could come from my body…"

In a final burst of fire the black haze was blown away, revealing the final transformation. Siegfried stared in disbelief. Nightmare walked out from the smoke changed. His body had morphed into a more monstrous form. The azure armor was shaped into a demented, exoskeleton-like form. The helm resembled something like an insect's head, and a single, glowing orange horn protruded from the forehead. A black haze flowed behind the helm, almost like hair. Pure red eyes like the devil's peered from behind the helm. The mutated arm had taken on a more wieldy form.

What Siegfried was most shocked to see was the abdomen. The abdomen had been torn out, and what was in its place were a pair of grotesque jaws, and housed inside the jaws was a glowing red light. A red light of what, Siegfried did not know. Nightmare had changed completely. What ever trace Siegfried had left in him was now gone. He was a real monster now.

Nightmare lifted his new arm and examined it interestedly. He turned his claw back and forth, chuckling at the sight. His self admiration stopped as he suddenly snapped his head to the phantom Soul Edge. The sword had remained the same, and that just wouldn't do. With whatever surplus energy he had left, Nightmare transferred it to the sword. With that energy, the sword began to transform, refining its shape and strength. What was once a cracked and frail blade solidified into one, sleek blade. The sword radiated with newfound energy, as if a long thirst had finally been quenched.

Siegfried had to react now if he was to protect Robin and Cassandra. Death was staring them all in the face.

"I'll find a way to destroy you, even if I have nothing but my bare hands!" He raised his arm to the sky and extended his palm. A blue orb of energy began to form in his palm and crackled with electricity. Siegfried focused even more energy into the orb, increasing its size. His eyes began glowing with a piercing blue glow.

Nightmare began to laugh sadistically. His voice was otherworldly.

"Ha ha ha ha! Your fire waits!"

He held up his claw and instantly a flame ignited. It grew in size to rival Siegfried's giant orb of electricity. He dared Siegfried to attack. "Ha ha! Burn!"

"Nightmare!!" Siegfried let loose his lightning bomb, screaming with pure fury.

"_Blitzkrieg!!"_

And with that Nightmare hurled his fireball as well. Siegfried's ball shot through the air like a thunderbolt, while Nightmare's fireball burned through the air like a meteor.

The cold night air suddenly became as warm as the hottest day in the Mediterranean. Instantly Siegfried broke out in a sweat.

The two forces of nature clashed and fused into an ungodly bomb. Siegfried and Robin watched wide-eyed as the blinding burst of energy hit them with no mercy.

The calamity and devastation resulting from the combining blasts rocked the city, sending a shockwave of pure energy and flames through every building and structure. The explosion even ravaged the bordering countryside, destroying every tree and scorching the vegetation, leaving not even ashes. In an instant the city fell, burying the heroes.

The rumble and boom of the explosion reverberated through the air, and it wasn't until everything had fallen that the massive blast subsided.

As the smoke and rubble cleared, an empty silence reigned over everything—a stark contrast to the chaos that had just ensued. From the smoke only a monster stood from the destruction. He clasped his sword tight and laughed maniacally, thrusting it into the stone rubble in victory. His strength was unmatched. Nothing could stop him from getting what he wanted. He disappeared in a swift wisp of black haze, dead set on his next objective. Cervantes de Leon's time was coming to an end.


	26. Chapter 25

**Author's Notes: Look who's back. I appreciate all those of you who are still interested in my story. It has been very hard to come up with chapters lately, but I finally pulled it off. Here is chapter 25. And just in case you don't know, I've rewritten and reposted chapter 24. For those of you who have followed my story, please, please read my new chapter 24. I am far happier with it than I was before. Thank you for reading, and leave your thoughts with me!! **

**Chapter 25**

Gunshots rang as women carrying children ran for their lives while men stayed behind to hurry everyone onward. The small Indian port town was under siege by a crew of bloodthirsty specters and their captain, Cervantes.

"Ha ha! Run as fast as you can! No one escapes the crew of the Adrian!" He raised his pistol and fired, hitting a woman in the back. She fell to the ground and tried to crawl away, but Cervantes raised his Soul Edge and drew in her soul.

"No…NO!" Her husband rushed Cervantes with a fisherman's spear, but Cervantes struck first, driving Soul Edge into his stomach.

"You can see her in hell."

The man let out a dying gasp as Soul Edge siphoned his soul. Cervantes let him drop to the ground and continued his sniping.

His ghouls stormed the town's homes, plundering everything of value. With their cold, rusted blades they cut down one innocent after another. Cervantes drank every deceased soul.

He laughed maniacally. He loved this. He loved the fear he conjured. He loved the death. He loved the cries of hopelessness. He wouldn't give it up for anything, not even life itself.

He grinned sadistically as he prepared for the climax. "Come now! You are destined for a much bigger purpose! You will live on for eternity, fueling my body!"

From behind him a pair of specters came running, each carrying a barrel of gunpowder marked with Cervantes's emblem, an eye placed in the center of a jumble of octopus tentacles. These were Cervantes's special barrels, and inside these barrels was a deadly combination of gunpowder and steel slugs.

The ghouls chased a group of townsfolk into a small stone building. With barrels in tow, they entered and an instant later, the explosion rocked the building.

Cervantes's cold voice echoed with pure delight. "Ho ho! How unfortunate!"

As Cervantes continued his massacre, one warrior had infiltrated his dread ship, the Adrian. He single-handedly sent each ghoul that came after him into the void with his Gatekeeper and Void.

"Where do these nuisances keep coming from?"

Greed dispatched another pair of specters, but just like that another pair replaced them.

"That's it!" Greed began to back away, and as he did he hit his forked Kunai, Void, with Gatekeeper. Void vibrated, and the sound resonated all about the ship. He held it up in front of him and showed his gapped smile. "Watch what this old man can do!"

The space around Void began to warp and bend. Heat began to radiate from the space as the seconds passed, and at last the space became a vortex, pulling all the ghouls on the Adrian.

Greed however, stood firm. This was the most efficient way to get rid of these ghouls, but no doubt he caught Cervantes's attention. But all was well. Greed had hoped to take the comical route and steal the undead pirate's ship to get his attention, but he'd settle for a straight forward confrontation.

Back on land Cervantes was fuming. "What is this?! Who dares step foot on the Adrian!" Tightening his grip on Soul Edge, he vanished from the streets of the port town.

Greed waited anxiously on the Adrian's deck. He scraped his two kunai together, enjoying the sound of rasping metal. He and Cervantes had something in common. They both had that insatiable appetite. Greed desired battle, and Cervantes desired power.

Greed was doing this not because of their similarities, he was doing it for himself. For someone like him, a battle with a power-hungry demon would provide him with a great deal of entertainment. He licked his chops, ready to open the first wound.

Cervantes reappeared on the ship, a vicious scowl on his face. "Who is it that irks me so? State your name!"

"Call me Greed, pirate. I have come to dispatch you into the Void, and take your sword."

"I'll drown you before you lay a hand on this blade!"

Cervantes immediately vanished from sight. Greed stood calm and nimbly leapt out of the way as Cervantes reappeared behind him. Cervantes flew at him, thrusting his blades at Greed. Greed dodged each thrust nimbly, laughing joyously as he did so. "Heh heh heh! This old man still has some moves to show off, eh, pirate?"

"Be quiet!" As he continued his assault, Cervantes realized that there was something different with this old man. Greed was the one with the psychological advantage. Cervantes realized that he was beginning to lose his temper. He stopped and recollected himself. This old man didn't fear him.

"You have some backbone, old man. But what makes you think you can defeat me in the end? I wield Soul Edge, after all."

Greed chuckled confidently, "I'll win, because I do not fear you. I know that you have fought enemies who appear to be fearless, but underneath they are trembling before your malevolence. I will be the one who puts you to rest once and for all, my good fellow."

With that Greed threw Void at Cervantes. Cervantes was too distracted by what Greed had just told him, and ended up with the kunai imbedded in his chest. He reached up to pull it out, but as he did he felt his life force begin to drain away. He could see the souls inside his body being pulled into Void. His skin began to crack as his body began to decay.

"No! No! How can this be?!"

"This was a waste of my time. Abyss promised me thrills if I joined him, but so far I've been disappointed. The golem hardly challenged me, and you were no more of a challenge. At this rate I could kill the Azure Knight in my sleep!"

"You…you know of our alliance? How!?" Cervantes raised Nirvana, taking aim at Greed, but his failing body could no longer sustain any movement. His arm dropped and he stood there, decaying.

"Who…who is…Abyss?

"Abyss is the one who will be the single force in this world. You, the Azure Knight, and even Soul Calibur will be eliminated from the picture once and for all!"

As Greed said the final word, a sudden rush of wind blew across the deck of the Adrian. The winds blew with such incredible force that it seemed they would tear the sails off the ship.

Growing weaker by the second, Cervantes was picked up by the wind and slammed into the door leading down into the cabin. His clouded eyes looked up at the gathering of black storm clouds above him.

"No…not now…I will not let him take it from me!"

"What is he going on about?" Greed looked up at the clouds. A thunderbolt flashed across his vision. Suddenly, behind him, he felt a heavy and terrible force. He turned to join eyes with those of the newly reformed Azure Knight himself.

"It's him!" Greed shivered in delight.

Cervantes however, trembled in pure terror. "What…has he…become?" In his hand, he could feel Soul Edge shaking.

"Cervantes…" Nightmare's otherworldly voice boomed, "Your time has come. Soul Edge, and your life force, are mine!" He raised his monstrous arm, and in an instant, Cervantes's Soul Edge flew out of his grasp, and into Nightmare's. He began laughing sadistically as he began to merge the sword into him. The sword's essence surged into the knight and finally vanished in a burst of flame.

"Yes, this is it! I am one step closer to being complete!"

"No!" Greed shouted, "That blade was supposed to be mine! You'll give it to me before I kill you!"

"Wretched human! It is now a part of me! You can not take it from me, nor can you kill me!" Nightmare raised his phantom Soul Edge, and prepared to unleash a burst of energy that would destroy the boat his two foes on it.

But before he could, Cervantes stood onto his feet. "I'll be damned before I let you win, Azure Knight!" He let the souls in his body flow into Void without hesitation, destabilizing Void's properties. Suddenly Void burst with uncontrolled energy, opening up a portal into the void, pulling both Cervantes and Greed into the vortex.

Nightmare stood firm as he was pulled towards the vortex. As he neared the brink of the portal, he took Soul Edge and somehow cleaved the portal in half, quelling the powerful vortex.

Nightmare now stood alone on the deck of the Adrian, deadly silent. With one half of Soul Edge merged with him, he could now sense the other half, his half. It was faint. It was sleeping in someplace far away, away from this physical world. It did not matter. He would reach this destination at any cost. This was his destiny.


	27. Part 26

**Hey guys, guess who's back. Some of you have already read this chapter, but I just recently edited the last few paragraphs which seemed a bit rushed to me. I'm happy with it now. I'm glad to see that people have still been reading my story after all this time, which is the reason why I started up again. So thanks a bunch!**

**Part 26**

Oblivion. Sweet oblivion. Like sleep washing away the cares of one's day, so too does oblivion erase the struggles of one's life. After a life as agonizing as his, was this not a better road? To float in nothingness was bliss.

But a voice kept on calling. It was a new voice. He knew this for his mind was clear—this was not Cassandra's voice again. This voice chimed like bells, but oddly he described them as bells of crystal. It kept telling him to go forward, for the ultimate finish was at hand, and his part to play was crucial.

_Can you not leave me alone? I have suffered enough. My mission has failed. I am no god…I can forge on no longer…_

His voice rose. A newfound spark ignited itself, albeit a spark of hate and fury, not of life.

_I am not God!!! I hurt! I fear! Fight your own battle! Oh almighty torturer!_

At this moment the other voice became strong, and although it did not become louder, it filled his head…

_I need the King's hand to guide me… _

ooooo

Siegfried awakened to the sight of a dreary gray sky lined with clouds that mimicked pattern of cut and polished marble. It was quite befitting of his mood.

For a long while he lay, unmoving and unthinking. He could feel no other presence with him. As far as he could tell, he was the only person on the planet, and he would be glad if it that was indeed the case. But a nagging feeling of worry urged him to look about him.

He forced himself up, a pain surging through his body as if he was pounded on by God's hammer. Instantly his glance came upon the motionless, gray form of his companion, Cassandra. She lay face down in the dirt, her lower half pinned by rubble. Her blond hair was splayed on the ground, obscuring her blood streaked face. A painful emotion cut through him, but he forced it down. Was this not the fate that he warned her of? Why should he feel regret? It was her choice.

But once again a pang of sadness hit him, and he carefully picked himself up and came to the side of her still body. One by one, he lifted each block of rubble from the pile pinning her, and after several minutes of painful labor, he freed her body. He picked up her body gingerly—mostly due to his own pains, for she was lifeless after all—and laid her on the ground.

He stared at her form, and suddenly wondered why he did what he did. Was this any different than just leaving her where she was? No, his conscience told him. She held an undying loyalty to him, and she at least deserved a proper burial for being a friend.

Friend…she had been his first. But she did not know his secret. If she had known, he knew she would have fled or attempted put a blade through his heart just like the others. Even so, she sought to see him as his true self, and paid the price for trying so.

He brushed the hair from her face, peeling some strands that had dried to the caked blood. As he did, he felt his eyes water and his vision blur. After a futile attempt to suppress his emotions, he finally began to cry. His lips quivered as small sobs escaped.

She was more than a friend. How could he deny it? The little part that was left of his heart yearned for her, and he knew she felt the same. That yearning for him led her to this fate!

Siegfried collapsed on her and embraced her tightly. His sobs became louder even as he buried his face into her cold neck. It felt as if all had been lost.

But in that moment of complete loss, a faint glimmer lit the bleak darkness in his mind. As if dried by the light, his tears vanished, and his mind became completely aware of an overwhelming presence that felt as if it was all around him. Despite being in the open, he suddenly felt enclosed in some invisible structure, and the echoing of the bells returned with more force than ever.

_Siegfried…Take me in your hand and the road to your fate will open._

The gray clouds above were cleaved by a shimmering blue light. The light grew stronger, and Siegfried began to think that the gates to Heaven had just opened before his eyes. He expected an angel to swoop down from the light and take him away from this world of pain. In a way, it did, for a brilliant beam of light descended upon him and Cassandra's body. The light was warm, and the soothing warmth flowed through his veins.

He looked down upon Cassandra, and he saw that her face was absolutely radiant. He could see a faint white mist flowing across her lips. Suddenly her chest rose, and with her breath she inhaled the mist.

Siegfried could feel himself strengthening. His aches and pains dulled away. As the ray of light continued to shower upon him, the omniscient voice continued to contact him.

_All is not lost. With the reawakening of the Inferno has come my reawakening. Unite me with my body, and the Inferno will be quelled._

The palms of Siegfried's hands began to glow with the same blue light that showered him. As he waited reverently for whatever this blessing was bestowing upon him, tiny flecks of sparkling light began to flow around his hands, and a faint outline of a sword began to form. Siegfried could feel the pure energy radiating from the blade. The blade solidified but still felt as light as air. It was a sword of crystal that shined a rich turquoise hue.

With the holy sword now grasped in his hand, Siegfried stood and bowed his head in reverence, "So this is a sword of repentance. It is my fate to wield it in the final battle. So be it."

Before his eyes a great, beautiful gateway of ivory emblazoned with emerald runes formed. The tremendous gates were of priceless gold and embossed with winged horses. Slowly and silently the gates began to open. A small sliver of white light began to shine through the opening gates. As they further opened a brilliant light flooded out, and when it subsided Siegfried could see that on the other side lay vista of dark spires silhouetted by a dusk sky and at the forefront was a tremendous cathedral that looked to be built out of shining ivory.

His spirit sword glowed, telling him to step across the threshold. With one last look at the one who held his heart, he crossed into the ancient realm of the Lost Cathedral, the golden gates slamming shut behind him.


	28. Part 27

**Thank you for reading. You may have noticed that I said I edited some parts here and there in my story. After reading through it once I caught a potential plot inconsistency. Originally in Chapter 6 I had Siegfried tell Cassandra the story of his past, but it was unclear if he revealed if he was Nightmare. I had already written the story with Cassandra not knowing he was Nightmare, and so I went back to fix that part of the chapter. I fixed the following Chapter 8 accordingly to match the events in 6. Other than that I fixed little bits and pieces of dialogue that seemed out of place in the time and place that Soul Calibur takes place (Ch. 21 dialogue between Cassandra and Siegfried). I also changed some of Cassandra's dialogue in which she seemed to giggle like a giddy schoolgirl into something more befitting of an adult (various spots). After reading more sophisticated works I cringed when I saw that I actually wrote dialogue like that. I will continue to edit and make this work something I and you readers can appreciate. Thanks again for reading.**

**Part 27**

The great light was seen for miles, and its witnesses began a pilgrimage toward where it had struck down. To those who had seen the Evil Seed, they instantly compared the two phenomena. But while the sickly pale light from the Evil Seed that had shot upwards as if spewed from the pits of Hell had radiated negative energy, this light that had come from the heavens did not radiate any tangible energy. Some believed it was the Second Coming, while some believed it was a second Evil Seed.

Among those who believed the latter was the warrior princess of the Wolfkrone Kingdom, Hildegard von Krone. She stood before her army, her face grim as she prepared them for what may come upon at the site of the great light.

"Whether this light is a holy omen or another curse, we must expect the unexpected. We have seen the evil that was born on that day of evil seven years ago, so we must be prepared to encounter any sort of thing that awaits us. If this is indeed the second coming of the Evil Seed, we must commit ourselves to eradicate the new demon born from it, lest the world suffer another terror like the Azure Knight. So, my fellow Wolfkrones, we march for humanity!"

ooooo

Cassandra began to stir slowly. She could feel the blood flow returning to her limbs, and she began to warm despite the cool air blowing across her prone body. She felt as if she had just woken from a long sleep, and when she opened her eyes even the diffused light of the gray day was too harsh for them. Immediately she shut her eyes and laid an arm across her face.

While she forced herself awake, the recent horrible events registered in her mind.

"No. Siegfried…are you okay?" She could barely whisper.

She received no response, but felt uplifted when she heard footsteps approaching. She opened her eyes.

"Siegfried…ahhh!"

Instead of seeing the face of her beloved companion, there was a horned beast with thick gray skin staring down at her. She sat up as quickly as her slightly numb body would allow and scooted back to make room between her and the beast. She looked frantically for her weapons but found them nowhere.

"Get away!" She kicked at the beast's knees as it approached.

"Oi! Crazy girl! Stop that!"

"What?" Cassandra was obviously dumbfounded. Taking a closer look at the beast's legs she saw that they looked like a human's.

"It's me Cassandra!" The beast dropped down to one knee and lifted a hand to its face. It lifted off its honed visage and behind was the scruffy and unkempt but familiar face.

"Rock! What on earth!" Cassandra looked as if she was on the verge of passing out, "How did you get here? And what are you wearing?"

"You need to calm down, girl. Breathe, and then I'll explain." Rock's face showed no sign of joy despite reuniting with an old ally, "Where's Siegfried?"

"That's what I wanted to ask. You haven't seen him?" A dreadful expression immediately fell across Cassandra's face.

"Aggh. No, not unless he's buried beneath these stones. I'd hate to think so."

"No…" Cassandra's voice broke into a quiver, "Please, Zeus no…"

She leapt up to her feet and ran to the nearest pile of rubble. Desperately she began lifting chunk after chunk of rubble. Her breaths were heavy with sobs as she labored. She picked up a particularly large slab of stone and took a faulty step and rolled her ankle. She sharply whimpered as she fell over, dropping the slab and hitting her head on it. She stood back up miserably and hobbled to another heap. Her face was contorted in despair and tears streaked down her face. Finally Rock intervened and picked her up by her waist, carrying her away underneath his arm.

"Let me go! What if he's buried? He's going to die! Let me go you son of a bitch!" She kicked, scratched and bit, but Rock did not loosen his grip.

"Stop, you silly girl, just stop."

ooooo

The well disciplined Wolfkrone army marched nonstop through the night and the next morning to confront the potential threat waiting at the site of the great light. By afternoon of the next day the princess' right hand, Gerhilde, spotted a thin column of smoke rising far off in the distance.

"Princess, there, down in the valley, someone has set up a camp. And it is fairly close to where the light had struck down."

Hilde squinted her hazel eyes at where Gerhilde was pointing, "Indeed. Come! We are only a few hours ride away!"

The Wolfkrone army descended down into the valley, moving like one giant shadow colored of silver steel.

ooooo

"Here, eat this." Rock held out a whole cooked quail at Cassandra's face. She didn't accept it and instead stared dejectedly into the fire.

"Oi girl! You'll cook your eyes if you stare at that damn fire anymore!"

"Shut up!" Her voice then dropped to a cold whisper, "How could you still talk to me? Why didn't you just leave me alone?"

"Bah! This again?" Rock angrily took a large bite out of his own bird and continued to talk, "Listen girl, I don't think he was buried alive, or dead for that matter. Did you enjoy your sleep so much that you didn't realize where you were?"

"What the hell does that mean? Of course I know! I was laying where the Azure Knight had blasted me and my friends to smithereens!" She angrily expressed her emotions with her almost insane body gestures.

"No, you dense girl! You were lying on clear, flat ground with not a single bit of rubble touching you. Now how is that possible? All that destruction and yet you managed to avoid being crushed yourself. Don't you think that someone moved you?"

Cassandra gasped. She had never thought of that. But now that it was explained to her, she could see Rock's point. "So you think he's alive? But then where is he?"

"I don't know. I saw no trace of him," Rock answered bluntly.

Suddenly Cassandra remembered a heart stopping detail of the earlier events, "Oh gods! Robin!"

"Gak!" Rock coughed up a piece of quail, "Who's Robin?"

Cassandra stood up and began pacing back and forth frantically, "He was with us! He was caught in the explosion as well! I forgot him! Oh gods!"

"Bah! You want to go back don't you?"

"Of course! I can't leave him!"

"Do you have any clue how long it would take to get back there and actually find him? He may be dead by then."

"Who cares how long it takes? I don't have anywhere to go Rock!"

"Wrong! You do."

"What?" Cassandra stopped her pacing.

"You have two choices. Either go back home and spend the rest of our remaining days with your family, or track down the Soul Edge and destroy it before Siegfried or the Azure Knight do."

"What are you saying?" She cocked her head and glared at him. This reunion with Rock had been a less than pleasant one.

"I'm saying that things have been set in motion. I saw it in a vision while I was so close to death. There is another entity we must worry about other than Nightmare. While we and the rest of the world have been chasing the Azure Knight, the second enemy has been setting up a trap for Siegfried."

"A trap?"

"Yes. If Siegfried reaches the sealed Soul Edge…"

"The Soul Embrace…" Cassandra interrupted.

"If he reaches it first and lays even a finger on it, he will unleash a power that this new enemy will use to pull this world into the Void. On the other hand, if Nightmare gets to it, then we'll simply burn in hellfire until we are all nothing but ash.

"If Siegfried is buried and dead back in that rubble, we still must worry about Nightmare. Do you see what I'm getting at, girl? We cannot waste time." Rock finished Cassandra's bird for her.

Cassandra was absolutely shocked, yet at the same time she was a bit doubtful about how true Rock's premonition was. "How can I help? I would have no clue where to find the Soul Embrace. You don't even know where it is."

"At least I'll search. For all I know I'm the only one who will be." Rock got onto his feet and brushed off his hands, ready to accept the fact that this bull-headed girl was not going to listen to him. "Well, if you're so determined, I'll get on my way. Farewell lass."

"Wait, Rock." Cassandra stopped him before he could walk away, "Where will you be headed? I can follow after I search for Robin and Siegfried."

"Bah! You wouldn't be able to catch up by the time you finish."

"I don't care," Cassandra again fell somber and quiet, "I don't have anyone left on this journey of mine. Siegfried probably left me, Robin might as well be dead, and the gods know where Sophitia is. You're the only friend I have left."

Rock understood, "I'll be heading farther west, towards Germany. If this 'Soul Embrace is to be anywhere, it must back at Ostrheinsburg."

Cassandra nodded, "Okay, I'll find it. Farewell then, Rock."

"Aye," Rock kicked dirt over the fire, smothering the flames.

ooooo

Cassandra didn't realize how hard it was to travel alone. Before she would have Siegfried to share her thoughts with, but now she was alone with only those thoughts to keep her company. She was aware of every mile and step she took, and it was grueling.

_Siegfried, could you really be gone? Where did you go? Why did you just leave me alone?_

She thought of Rock's premonition.

_If it's true, there's little chance for anyone to stop the chain of events. How would anyone find the sword in time?_

With the realization that she had been abandoned came doubt.

_Why am I still journeying? I was only here to help Siegfried, and now he's left on his own. Sophitia has once again left on another quest ordered by Hephaestus that I know nothing of. Why don't I just go home? Ah, I must be kidding, I don't even know where home is at this point._

Her one-woman conversation came to an end when she approached the scene of carnage. Her dispirited mood lightened when she saw a lone figure hobbling down the path.

"Ah! Who is that? Siegfried? Robin? Is that you?" She ran towards the person.

But instead of being greeted by a grateful friend and a warm embrace that she so desperately needed, she was stopped in her tracks by the approach of a wild-eyed Robin.

"…Doom…We are doomed. Cepheus is dead…"

"Gods! Robin? Are you okay?" Cassandra cautiously approached. Robin did not look right.

"…Humans are so ignorant…He will play his part, and then we are doomed to nothingness." Robin began to quicken his uneven steps. He suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Cassandra by her arms, digging his fingers into her flesh, "Siegfried will doom us all!"

Cassandra screamed as she stared into his fevered eyes, "Stop! Robin gain your senses!"

"But I have Cassandra, and more! I…ha! I saw it! There is nothing we can do! Ha! Come Cassandra, let's live while he have the chance!" With uncanny strength he forced her back and down onto her back, where promptly he forced himself upon her.

"Ahhh! Stop! Nooo!"

"Ha! Cassandra, I have wanted this since I first saw you. Let's give each other what we crave!"

His face closed down upon her chest and she looked away disgustedly, unable to do anything against an insane man's strength. She was prepared to resign herself to this abuse when she heard a loud rustling and a sudden thump. With the thump came the freedom of her limbs. She sat up and saw Robin tumbling away, stopping in a heap a several meters away.

"How?" Cassandra looked up at great form looming over her. It was a horse, and sitting atop the great steed was a knight clad in silver-shining armor.

"Are you okay?" The voice of the knight was oddly feminine. When the knight turned to her, Cassandra saw why. She was indeed a female, young and pretty with luscious burgundy lips and a beauty mark below her lip.

"Y…yes, I am. Thank you." Cassandra stood up and extended her hand to the female knight.

The female knight called out to one of the three armored women waiting patiently behind her. "Siegrune, bind this man. We'll have to interrogate him," she pointed at Robin's limp body.

"Cassandra!" There was another voice, this one no doubt not a female's.

Cassandra looked behind her to the waiting company of knights for the voice. She scanned the company over several times, but saw nothing until a split in their ranks revealed a knight with a bound man in tow.

"Rock? Why are you tied up?"

The female knight raised her hand and the knight receded back into rank along with Rock. "You are a friend of his?"

"Yes. You should let him go."

"I cannot do that, and if you are an acquaintance of his, you must be bound as well." The female knight motioned to one of her soldiers who promptly rode forward with rope.

"What! Why? I have done nothing!"

"We cannot afford to be so trusting of everyone we meet. I suggest you don't struggle."

Looking at the spear she carried, Cassandra heeded the knight's advice and was bound and set atop a horse.

"Gerhilde, take a battalion of twenty men and search these ruins. I will meet you back at home."

"Yes, Princess Hilde. Take care." Gerhilde motioned to her men and they neatly rode into rank behind her. Meanwhile the rest of the company about-faced and began riding back to down the road from which they came. Cassandra cursed her luck. These past two days have been a nightmare, and to add to her fears, she remembered Robin's crazed, yet frighteningly relevant words, "_Siegfried will doom us all!"_


End file.
